Same-sex marriage is legal in New Hamshire, but state Rep. Frank Sapareto is sponsoring HR 1264, a bill to protect religious freedom. It allows businesses and employees to refuse service to anyone if it involves “solemnization, celebration, or promotion of a marriage” in “violation of the person’s conscience or religious faith.”
The bill is extraordinary in scope. I’ve written a little skit showing what could happen if the bill passes. Imagine you’re the owner of a charming New Hampshire bed and breakfast…
Owner [walking into kitchen]: Margaret, you’ll need to fix a honeymoon dinner for Room 202.
Cook: Nope.
Owner: What?
Cook: Same-sex couple. I don’t have to help them celebrate their “marriage.”
Owner: You can’t just refuse.
Cook: HB 1264.
Owner: I’ll fire you.
Cook: HB 1264.
Owner: Dock your pay.
Cook: HB 1264.
[Bellhop enters]
Bellhop: Room 203 wants a cheese platter.
Cook: Nope. Interracial couple. Nasty.
Owner: That’s not even a religious belief!
Cook: Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.
Owner [to Bellhop]: Did you take up Room 201’s luggage?
Bellhop: Nope. Saw birth control pills in her bag. Not a real marriage.
Owner: What the –
Bellhop: HB 1264.
Owner: Room 205’s stuff?
Bellhop: Catholic and a Baptist, married by a judge. HB 1264.
[Maid enters]
Owner: Valorie, thank god! Everyone’s gone nuts. I’ll need you to –
Maid: Nope.
Owner: You don’t even know what it is!
Maid: I’m a Shaker. We don’t believe in marriage.
Owner: We specialize in honeymoons and anniversaries — that’s all we do!
Maid [kicking off shoes and picking up magazine]: Guess I’ll have lots of down time.
Owner [red-faced]: I’ll –
Maid: HB 1264.
Owner: This is crazy!
Bellhop: HB 1264.
Owner: You’re all –
Cook: HB 1264.
Owner: I’m paying you people!!
Cook, maid, and bellhop: HB 1264!
Note that the New Hampshire House is rather strange. There are 400 members giving a ratio of one member for every 3,300 residents (not voters — residents). This guy is one of the 11 members resresenting the town of Derry (pop 33,109 per 2010 census). In multi-member districts like this one, voters can cast as many votes as there are seats to be filled, so you often see one party winning all the seats in the district. The NH house is 74% Republican. Salary is $200 per 2-year term meaning its very much a part time affair. Lots of retired folk, small-town lawyers, realtors, etc. Frank collected a total of $1,000 in donations for the most recent election and won with a whopping 4,980 votes.
See http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Frank_Sapareto and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_House_of_Representatives
Rob, I can’t WAIT for November. This isn’t the only dumbfuckery these clowns have been up to, and I want them GONE.
I’ve been writing letters, railing to people, posting on my blog and facebook, and yelling at my students about this lunacy for a while now. On election day a few weeks back, our “representatives” decided they were going to convene hearings to (get this) designate a state firearm (a state fucking FIREARM! Because, you know, it’s good to carry concelaed weapons on college campuses now, which is JUST what we need), to decide whether to mandate a vegetarian diet for prison inmages, and whether or not to institute a Terri Schaivo Day holiday. A TERRI SCHAIVO Day, Rob! I can’t STAND it! Terri Schaivo never lived here, she didn’t die here, what the HELL are they DOING?! GAH!!!
That should be “inmates.” I spell poorly when I’m worked up. Sorry….
I really believe the individuals who will opt out of participating in a same-sex marriage due to religious beliefs are a very small minority. When we got married in New York last fall, every vendor we contacted were more than happy, even eager, to provide service for our wedding (and to get our business of course).
I think if business want to opt out due to religious reasons, they should be required to register with the state. This would prevent just anyone from using this bill to refuse service just because they don’t like someone else. Then the state could publicize a state registry, and these business should be required to display a symbol (maybe a yellow cross or something) in their windows or on their websites. That way innocent LGBT people won’t wander in by mistake and thereby violate their religious beliefs. It would help all consumers make educated decisions about which business to use.
I won’t go so far as to agree with Chris M. about the Yellow Cross business (too reminiscent of yellow stars, to ripe for potential abuse), but I will say that when my husband and I had our commitment ceremony in Louisiana prior to flying to Canada for a legal wedding, we were very up front with all the hotel, baker, photographer, florist and jeweler about what was taking place and that, yes, it was a same-sex ceremony. We had decided in advance that if anyone objected to providing goods and services for a gay wedding, we would happily take our business elsewhere; there’s always someplace else to buy a cake.
Fortunately, everyone we encountered was happy to have our business. But I can easily imagine being a caterer, for example, and having recalcitrant staff members refuse to work at a function because of “religious objections,” however selectively applied those religious objections were.
I (hypothetically) believe, as a feminist, that marriage is an institution which reduces women to chattel and is at the root of the issue of gender inequality. Therefore, I it is against my conscience to serve any herterosexual married person. If they have a ring on their finger, I refuse to promote their marriage by making them food, driving them places, or doing their tech support. /sarcasm
Discrimination is discrimination is discrimination. Just because you don’t support someone’s personal choices doesn’t mean you get to refuse them services.
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“Owner: I’m paying you people!!
Cook, maid, and bellhop: HB 1264!”
Ah, yes; one of the perils of being a “Job Creator”. I have to wonder what Rep. Sapareto would tell the B&B Owner when s/he complains about having to pay her staff for *not* working — and not being able to *fire* them for not working — and citing his bill as their reason for not working? (Okay, I’m just going to be honest here and predict that he would simply ignore any complaint. These days legislators make stupid/crazy laws, they don’t actually have to follow them like the rest of us do.)