Marriage Before Non-Discrimination?

I have written many times before that I think the focus should be on non-discrimination laws before marriage equality. I feel that it is more important to have a job, a roof over your head and to be able to walk in and sit at a lunch counter than to be able to be married.

Refusal to sell wedding gowns to lesbian couple stirs debate in Bloomsburg
August 8, 2014
Associated Press

BLOOMSBURG — A bridal store’s refusal to sell wedding gowns to a same-sex couple is stirring debate in central Pennsylvania.
[…]
W.W. Bridal Boutique owner Victoria Miller told the newspaper that “providing those two girls dresses for a sanctified marriage would break God’s law.”

The woman’s discrimination is completely legal in Pennsylvania and your landlord can throw you out of your apartment when you announce your marriage. This is why I feel it is important to have non-discrimination laws first.

The town council is now considering a non-discrimination ordinance; however, the state offers no protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity other than an executive order from the governor banning discrimination in employment. I’m not sure if the governor’s order covers businesses that do business with the state or if it covers all businesses.

Marriage was a low hanging fruit but what it really get you is a chance to be fired, thrown out on the street in many of the states that overturned the marriage laws.