February 22, 2013 10:49 AM UTC

NOM To Steadman: We Resemble That Remark

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• by: Colorado Pols

Raw Story:

The National Organization of Marriage on Thursday accused the author of a civil unions bill of being contemptuous of religion after the Colorado lawmaker said Christian don’t have the right to discriminate against gay and lesbian individuals.

“Don’t claim religion as a reason the law should discriminate,” state Sen. Pat Steadman (D) said earlier this month. “We have laws against discrimination. Discrimination is banned in employment, and housing, and public accommodations, and so bakeries that serve the public aren’t supposed to look down their noses at one particular class of persons and say ‘we don’t sell cakes to you.’ It’s troubling, this discrimination. And it’s already illegal.”

“So, what to say to those who claim that religion requires them to discriminate?” the Colorado lawmaker continued. “I’ll tell you what I’d say: ‘Get thee to a nunnery!’ And live there then. Go live a monastic life away from modern society, away from people you can’t see as equals to yourself. Away from the stream of commerce where you may have to serve them or employ them or rent banquet halls to them.”

“Go some place and be as judgmental as you like. Go inside your church, establish separate water fountains in there if you want, but don’t claim that free exercise of religion requires the state of Colorado to establish separate water fountains for her citizens. That’s not what we’re doing here.”

The National Organization for Marriage responds:

State Senator Pat Steadman (D-Denver), co-sponsor of the Colorado same-sex civil union bill SB11, went to the floor of the Colorado Senate this week and lashed out at people of faith, claiming they want to “establish separate water fountains” for gay people and straight people in their churches and believe “My religion says I can’t help [gays]. God told me to hate [gays].”

At another point he says people of faith “don’t want gay people sitting on the bus next to them, they’d rather the gays stayed far to the back of the bus, far far away.”

Steadman also argues that any person of faith with pro-marriage views should be forced to violate their conscience if they choose to continue operating their business (flower shops, bakeries, restaurants, photographers, banquet halls, etc) after the passage of same-sex civil unions…

The debate here concerns an exemption for religious organizations and businesses to allow them to refuse services to gay and lesbian couples in a civil union. In hope of placating Republicans in previous years, versions of the Colorado Civil Unions Act contained such an exemption. This year, with even fewer Republicans in support than in previous years, what proponents always felt was a “discrimination exemption” was discarded as unnecessary. NOM forgets to note, of course, that they opposed the bill with this exemption in previous years.

In short, the National Organization for Marriage is taking offense at being likened to historic forms of discrimination, then revealing without any sense of irony why that comparison is deserved.