PENNSYLVANIA: Governor Tom Corbett Backs LGBT Anti-Discrimination Bill

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, who so far had been no friend to the gay community, has backed a bill that would protect LGBT residents from discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations.

Corbett, who has previously staked out conservative positions on social issues, told The Inquirer that he was "coming out in support" of the bill after learning that federal law does not cover discrimination in the state. "I've had people come and talk to me about how they were discriminated against," said Corbett, who served for eight years as the state's attorney general. "The federal government has antidiscrimination laws. I believed they covered it." Corbett's support of legislation that has languished in the General Assembly for a decade is viewed by many advocates as a major step forward on a civil rights issue. "This is remarkably big news," said Ted Martin, executive director of Equality Pennsylvania, a statewide gay rights advocacy group. "His leadership will move the issue forward in a way that is long overdue."

Corbett says he's has not changed his mind about same-sex marriage, which he infamously compared to incest during an interview earlier this year.

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Posted in: employment,GOP,housing,LGBT rights,pennsylvania,public accommodations,Tom Corbett

Brian Brown: Bakers Are Artists And Deserve The Freedom To Discriminate

"I challenge any same-sex marriage activist to take to their blog or to pen an op-ed doubling down on the opinion that what cake decorators and bakers do isn't a form of artistry and doesn't deserve protections as a form of expression! And I'd be willing to bet if this case had involved a portrait painter, or a photographer, or a musician, or a florist, the judge would have ruled exactly the same way. How's that for citizenship 'rights' in America? So that same-sex couples can redefine marriage to suit their own desires, the first amendment rights of all artists — poets and painters, florists and bakers, musicians and photographers — will be delineated by what the courts decide constitutes 'expression.'" - Hate group leader Brian Brown, writing about the Colorado bakery case.

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Posted in: Brian Brown,Colorado,crackpots,hate groups,NOM,public accommodations,religion

Freep This Colorado Poll

On the same page as the editorial in my post below this one.

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Posted in: Colorado,freeping,public accommodations,religion

Editorial Of The Day

From the Denver Post editorial board:

If you're going to sell wedding cakes in Colorado, you have to sell them to everyone who comes into your shop. You can't pick and choose among customers based upon your belief that some weddings are immoral. That's the principle that administrative law judge Robert N. Spencer reinforced with his recent ruling that the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood must sell wedding cakes to gay couples. It's the right call — and not even a close one in our view. Masterpiece Cakeshop is a commercial enterprise, not a religious institution, even if Phillips believes he honors God thr0ugh his artistic efforts in cake decoration. It is not unusual for merchants to deal with people whose values or behavior they disapprove of. If you're in business, though, you have a duty to sell your wares to all comers.

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Posted in: business,Colorado,Denver Post,LGBT rights,public accommodations,religion

Colorado Baker Tells Fox News: I'll Go To Jail Before Making A Gay Wedding Cake

Right wing sites continue to claim that the baker faces up to a year in jail for refusing to make a gay wedding cake. In fact, there are no criminal sanctions in any state for violating public accommodation laws and the baker faces only a fine. If he refuses to pay, he could eventually lose his business license.

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Posted in: business,Colorado,crackpots,Fox News,LGBT rights,public accommodations,religion

Quote Of The Day - Erick Erickson

"A Christian baker in Colorado refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding. A judge is now ordering him to do so or face financial penalties. There will be no accommodation between gay rights activists and those seeking religious freedom to opt out of the gay rights movement. Gay rights activists demand tolerance for their lifestyle, but will not tolerate those who choose to adhere to their religious beliefs. Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominate and then it seeks to silence good. We are more and more rapidly arriving at a point in this country where Christians are being forced from the public square unless they abandon the tenets of their faith. In our secular society, Christianity is something you do on a Sunday and who you sleep with defines you." - Red State blogger Erick Erickson, who is filling in for Rush Limbaugh during the holiday break.

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Posted in: Colorado,Erick Erickson,LGBT rights,public accommodations,religion,Tea Party,teabaggers

Bryan Fischer Has The Bakery Sadz

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Posted in: AFA,Bryan Fischer,Colorado,crackpots,hate groups,public accommodations,religion,The Sadz

Christian Hate Group Has Bakery Sadz

"America was founded on the fundamental freedom of every citizen to live and work according to their beliefs. Forcing Americans to promote ideas against their will undermines our constitutionally protected freedom of expression and our right to live free. If the government can take away our First Amendment freedoms, there is nothing it can’t take away. We are considering our next steps." - Nicolle Martin, volunteer attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, who fucking lost her case today on behalf of an anti-gay Colorado bakery. Earlier this year Martin testified against civil unions before the Colorado legislature, a battle which she also fucking lost.

RELATED: For her day job, Martin works for an ambulance-chasing outfit called Auto Injury Solutions.

ALSO FUCKING RELATED:  Early this year ADF volunteer attorney Lisa Biron was sentenced to 40 years in prison on eight felony counts of producing child pornography. With her daughter.

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Posted in: Alliance Defense Fund,Colorado,HA HA HA,hate groups,losers,public accommodations,religion,The Sadz

COLORADO: Court Rules That Bakery Broke The Law By Refusing Gay Customers

Via press release from the ACLU:

A Colorado judge today determined that the bakery unlawfully discriminated against the couple by refusing to sell them a wedding cake. David Mullins and Charlie Craig visited Masterpiece Cakeshop last year, with Craig's mother, to order a cake for their upcoming wedding reception. Mullins and Craig planned to marry in Massachusetts and then celebrate with family and friends back home in Colorado. Masterpiece owner Jack Phillips informed them that because of his religious beliefs the store’s policy was to deny service to customers who wished to order baked goods to celebrate a same-sex couple’s wedding.

Longstanding Colorado state law prohibits public accommodations, including businesses such as Masterpiece Cakeshop, from refusing service based on factors such as race, sex, marital status or sexual orientation. Mullins and Craig filed complaints with the Colorado Civil Rights Division (CCRD) contending that Masterpiece had violated this law. Earlier this year, the CCRD ruled that Phillips illegally discriminated against Mullins and Craig. Today’s decision from Judge Robert N. Spencer of the Colorado Office of Administrative Courts affirms that finding.

Can you hear that sound? That there's some sadz coming down the track.

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Posted in: ACLU,Colorado,public accommodations,religion