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Can you clarify for me if homosexuals are currently a protected minority? I thought that it was currently illegal to discriminate against a child w/two daddies or against two women who want to move into an apartement together, even if the couples aren't married.
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On a federal level, they are NOT a protected class. It is no violation of federal law to discriminate against homosexuals in any way you choose. Some states and cities (like Wisconsin and Denver) have state/local anti-discrimination laws which forbid this kind of discrimination. Right now most states and cities do not have such laws. In Alabama or Kansas, you can throw Dick Cheney's daughter out of your hotel, make her come to the back door of your restaurant, pay her less for the same work, or whatever else you want, and that is 100% legal.
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It sounds as if you're attempting to paint the legality of gay marriage as if it can/will occur in a vacuum. This will affect others that do not want to accept it.
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LoveSpell, I thought you asked for a _legal_ opinion, and I gave it. I'll state it again:
Churches and pastors can do absolutely whatever they want, forever. That will never change.
Certain government employees such as judges have sworn to uphold the law, and they could theoretically be required to perform ceremonies in those states that allow gay marriage. They also have to enforce the death penalty even if they think it's murder, etc. If you believe that the law is so evil that you cannot in good conscience enforce it, you have to resign from that kind of job.
Public accommodations such as landlords, insurance companies, etc. are presently governed by state law in this area, and some states have passed anti-discrimination laws. These laws apply only within that state. Under these laws, you can sometimes be sued for refusing to serve gay customers or for firing a gay employee. (Although, I pray to God, you aren't really serious about day care providers discriminating against a three-year-old child because they don't agree with his parents.)
>legalizing gay marriage will force others to accept it
It isn't gay marriage that forbids the kind of discrimination you describe -- it's anti-discrimination laws. As I said above, some states already have these laws. I'm not sure what you mean about neighborhoods rejecting people, but if you're a gated community or a real estate agent in New York and you refuse to sell a house to a gay person, that is already illegal, even though there is no gay marriage there.
IN SUMMARY: you don't have to like, approve, agree, bless, or go to church with anyone you don't want, and you will never have to. However, you may have to serve or hire them in your secular business, or live next door to them, depending on the state. Further, if you work for the government at a job where you have taken an oath to apply the law, then you must apply the law, even if you disagree with it.