Monday, June 04, 2018

The anti-LGBTQ right did not get the victory they wanted in the Masterpiece ruling (and they know it)


The spin from today's Masterpiece ruling varies. Some have said that while it was a victory for baker Jack Phillips, it was so narrow (not focusing on the argument of using religion to discriminate under the guise of "religious liberty but instead focusing on how the Colorado Commission treated Phillips's religious beliefs) it did not give the anti-LGBTQ right a solid victory.

SCOTUS didn't address the argument of "religious liberty."  And while some prognosticators have made good points on this being potentially negative for the LGBTQ community,  others claimed that the court actually affirmed our rights and dignity. This is something which cannot be omitted.

But of course the anti-LGBTQ right bypassed the possible affirmation of gay rights and tried to make the case either seem like a complete victory or incentive to come back in other cases. Their responses  struck me as very lukewarm. There was very little general crowing on how the supposed concept of "religious liberty" won the day.

The Family Research Council: 
Like us, Justice Clarence Thomas knew this crisis was coming. "In Obergefell, I warned that the Court's decision would 'inevitabl[y]... come into conflict' with religious liberty, 'as individuals . . . are confronted with demands to partic­ipate in and endorse civil marriages between same-sex couples.' This case proves that the conflict has already emerged. Because the Court's decision vindicates Phillips' right to free exercise, it seems that religious liberty has lived to fight another day. But, in future cases, the free­dom of speech could be essential to preventing Obergefell from being used to 'stamp out every vestige of dissent' and 'vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy.' If that freedom is to maintain its vitality, reasoning like the Colorado Court of Appeals' must be rejected." The time is coming -- and soon -- when the court will have to wade into the bigger clash between religious liberty and same-sex marriage. When it does, let's hope it agrees with the majority of Americans, who understand that -- regardless of what you think about marriage -- no one should be forced to violate revealed and established biblical truth. 
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Anti-gay baker wins but the LGBTQ community does not lose in 'Masterpiece' case


Anti-gay baker narrowly wins at SCOTUS, but the LGBTQ community did not lose. Time for another round.


By now, the news of the SCOTUS ruling for Jack Phillips, the Colorado baker who wouldn't bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, has reached pretty much all of us. And with that reach comes less of a freak-out and more of a realization.

The ruling for Phillips was narrow in that the court merely looked at how the state commission in Colorado supposedly showed a hostility to his religious beliefs. SCOTUS did not settle the question of can "religious liberty" be used as a way to discriminate. The court did not give the religious right what it wanted - a blanket religious liberty exemption. However while the religious right may use this case to pursue more cases, we have an enormous amount of wiggle room - particularly in cases involving tax monies going to entities which freely discriminate against the LGBTQ community. Granted, the religious right is going to spin the hell out of this case. After all, they have to fundraise. But in the general sense, they have won nothing.

Nor have we, except for one thing.

We have a chance to stare into the abyss of negative possibilities and hopefully we are learning from this. No matter how many victories we win, there are groups and people out there who will exploit,  manipulate, and spin to take it all from us. No longer should we be saying "just ignore them," "don't give them any attention." Maybe it's time we start taking these folks seriously.  We need to start engaging in the political process and educating ourselves and others about these folks and groups with as much exuberance as some of us watch 'RuPaul's Drag Race' or argue about "intersectionality" and "privilege." This is a war, folks. It was the reason why I began this blog in 2006. Let's all start acting like warriors. Patient, pragmatic, hot-fired, whatever it takes. We didn't lose this round. But there will be more rounds coming.

The Supreme Court Just Ruled (Narrowly) In Favor Of The Baker In The Same-Sex Wedding Cake Case - Chris Geidner of Buzzfeed has been the only reporter has been consistently ON POINT about this issue. I read his article before anyone else's and with good reason.

Supreme Court sidesteps major ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop case - Washington Blade also nails the situation

The Supreme Court’s opinion in the anti-gay baker case is a stupid, waste-of-time punt - ThinkProgress says the same thing, but makes a wonderful point of the inanity of it all.

Supreme Court upholds basic principles of nondiscrimination, reverses Colorado Civil Rights Commission decision - ACLU spin is generally accurate.

 And let's forget the opposition. Like I said - Spin, spin, spin:



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