For the large majority, the public expressed their support, but for two county commissioners and a few speakers who chose to spout the same tired old reasons. A few people thought this matter should be put on the ballet and voted on by the community, bad move.
But what was the most unreasonable argument against the measure was that people didn't want to have to deal with the lgbt community as a whole, it was as if they wanted us to crawl back under the rock and pond we appeared from.
There was the speech that we could be changed, that being gay was a choice; they didn't hate people they just didn't like someone who was visibly gay acting. Several people thought that this would open the floodgate for discrimination lawsuits.
People who own small business will take peoples money without asking if they are gay, and some will not let a gay person shop in their establishments. Maybe it time we ask owners if they want our "gay" money or not. If a business should fail, then they are not seeking to being more business into their stores. We have lots of money and would prefer to spend it in business that is friendly to the lgbt community.
3 comments:
The notion that somebody chooses to be gay and can be changed, is just ridiculous. Some people are so sure they've got all the answers. This seems to be especially true of people who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground! The trouble is, you can't change their opinions by telling them the truth, because they just aren't open to the truth.
As for opening up the flood gates to discrimination lawsuits, the answer is simple. Don't discriminate, and you won't have anything to worry about! What is it about treating everyone as equals, that is so hard for some folks?
Melissa XX
If we treat everyone as equals, then there won't be anyone left to feel the sting of discrimination. Seriously, that was the center of some of the arguments made on April 27th... and you could still hear it in some the statements on May 11th.
When small business owners were threatening to take their shops to Gadsden and Jefferson Counties... my reaction was, "Great! If it's that important to you to discriminate against the likes of me, then take your business elsewhere. It'll open up the real estate for the many more businesses that support human rights!!"
As someone who visited Tallahassee frequently during the major years of transition, I never one was discriminated against. No one even stopped to give me a critical look, and so I probably shopped in some of the stores who feel it necessary to have opposed this extended bill.
Seems like they have a really screwed up idea of just what a trans woman should look like.
Sarah
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