Last week, I wrote about how the reaction of prominent Republicans to Coca-Cola’s “America the Beautiful” commercial reflects conservative intolerance toward nonwhite and non-English speaking Americans.
In the past few days, policies proposed by Republican legislators have taken aim at another minority group that has been a frequent target of discrimination: the LGBT community.
Conservatives who oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage have recently suffered a series of major defeats.
The Supreme Court ruled in June 2013 that part of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law that forbade the government from recognizing same-sex marriages, was unconstitutional.
In the months since the DOMA decision, courts in Utah, Oklahoma, Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia have all produced rulings either legalizing same-sex marriage or significantly expanding the rights of gay Americans.
Now that religious conservatives are losing the battle over same-sex marriage, they are exploring new avenues to discriminate against LGBT Americans.
A bill recently passed by the Kansas House of Representatives would allow private businesses and government officials to refuse service to any marriage celebration, provided that the refusal is based on “sincerely held religious beliefs … regarding sex or gender.”
If enacted, this bill could deny LGBT Kansans access to vital social services such as counseling and employment benefits simply because a government official or employer believes homosexuality or gay marriage to be immoral.
A bill proposed by a Republican representative in Idaho goes even further. The legislation would allow any “doctor, nurse, pharmacist, attorney, social worker, firefighter, police officer, estate agent or insurance provider” to refuse service to gay Americans without risking the loss of their licenses.
For example, this bill would allow doctors and police officers to refuse life-saving emergency services to members of the LGBT community solely on the basis of their religious beliefs with no risk of being fired.
The Daily Beast’s Jamelle Bouie calls these anti-LGBT proposals a “close cousin” of the Jim Crow laws of the segregation-era South. Just as the Jim Crow laws legalized racial discrimination, Bouie argues, these bills would enshrine discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Republicans at the federal level are also engaging in efforts to discriminate against LGBT Americans. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recently introduced the State Marriage Defense Act. The bill would allow individual states to not recognize same-sex marriages that were performed in other states where the practice is legal.
This law represents a callous attempt to circumvent the DOMA ruling and allows continued discrimination against LGBT Americans in the 33 states that have not yet legalized same-sex marriage.
Conservatives have also sought to marginalize and demonize LGBT Americans through symbolic actions.
Republican members of the House of Representatives recently held an hour-long session on the House floor in support of “National Marriage Week,” during which conservative and religious groups vigorously promote anti-gay legislation. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., who represents Gainesville, was one of the members in attendance.
The tireless efforts of Republicans around the country to promote discrimination against the LGBT community demonstrate conservatives’ intolerance of anyone outside its base of old, white, straight, religious fundamentalists.
The Republican Party’s inability to expand its support beyond this rapidly shrinking base spells serious trouble for its long-term viability.
[Elliot Levy is a UF political science and public relations junior. His columns appear on Wednesdays. A version of this column ran on page 7 on 2/19/2014 under the headline "Anti-LGBT laws show intolerance"]
