Jacob Sullum on “eHarmony Forced to Create a Dating Service for Gay Singles”
From the article in the Boston Herald:
“Until (Wednesday’s) settlement, eHarmony was more like eNeanderthal for its refusal to include the gay community,” said Steven Goldstein, director of Garden State Equality, the civil-rights group active on gender issues. “It’s nice to see eHarmony finally go from the Stone Age to the 21st century.”
Perhaps it would have been laudable for eHarmony to change their policies voluntarily, but it most certainly isn’t “nice” to witness a criminal assault on freedom of association. This act of compulsion is an outrage. Mr. Goldstein, plaintiff Eric McKinley, the Attorney General of New Jersey, and everyone else involved in forcing eHarmony to change their policies should be ashamed of themselves.
Good call, but no commentary yet on the appalling anti-prop8 mob attacks in California?
http://patterico.com/2008/11/18/mob-anger-and-violence-by-proposition-8-opponents/
Compared to the video, Patterico’s account is heavily embellished. It wouldn’t be the first misrepresentation I have seen from fundamentalist Christians.
In fact, prop eight itself was misrepresented. Many voted in favor, because it was a ‘gay marriage’ bill, not realizing the prop outlawed gay marriages that were already legal in certain places in California.
I had never heard of it before some1 above posted the comment, probably because it didn’t amount to much and I am usually too busy to read a lot of obscure blogs. I just watched the whole video and saw some ugly and nasty shouts (and very annoying whistle blowing) by what appeared to be at most 20 people, a few of whom were quite foul mouthed and nasty to Christians. (A whole lot of Christians must have voted for legal equality, or the opposition to Proposition 8 would not have gotten the support of 47.9% of the voters, so it seems especially stupid of the loudmouth who shoved his face into the camera to insult them.) Aside from one oddball pushing a car, I didn’t see any violence in the video, but perhaps I was not looking closely enough. I saw ugly behavior that did not advance the cause of legal equality, but I did not see the denial of anyone’s rights. If we were to judge every cause by its small, extremist, and angry fringe supporters, no cause would ever appear in a good light.
I don’t feel obligated to comment on every non-violent shouting match between a handful of extremists. The world is too big for that.
Malkin’s overblown take on a tasteless exchange was not the only one on Pajamas Media. Here’s another, http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/christians-and-gays-behaving-badly/
“Meanwhile, the churches should reconsider their roles in authenticating marriage. Governments issue birth certificates; churches issue baptismal certificates. Governments issue death certificates; churches pray the funerals. Governments issue divorces; Churches annul. Both work within their separate and necessary spheres, serving the corporeal and the spiritual. It is only in the issue of marriage that church and state have commingled authority. That should perhaps change, and soon. Let the government certify and the churches sanctify according to their rites and sacraments.”