Roy Moore is the Hiroo Onoda of the U.S. culture wars.
As I wrote in an op-ed on Sunday, “just because there’s been surprisingly little thunder against the gays of late doesn’t mean no one has been busy conjuring up the lightning that precedes it.” The piece turned a spotlight on what’s happening in Florida, where a broadly written religious freedom bill would make it legal for individuals and private businesses to deny business, services, adoption consideration and even medical care if doing so “would be contrary to religious or moral convictions or policies.” They also would be protected from litigation.
But Florida is not alone in this shameful exercise. A Human Rights Campaign report released late last week shows that so-called religious freedom laws and those targeting gender identity are being considered all over the country.
A report from the Movement Advancement Project last year revealed that 43 percent of LGBT Americans live in 21 states with religious-freedom laws. To make matters worse, because sexual orientation and gender identity are not covered under the federal civil rights act, most LGBT Americans live in states where they can be fired for who they are or who they love.
The states in light green above — New Hampshire, New York and Wisconsin — each have a nondiscrimination law that covers LGB. Those in dark green with a T have an all-inclusive statute that covers transgender and sexual orientation. The remaining 28 states have no protection at all. That encompasses 52 percent of LGBT Americans. Arkansas and Tennessee are noted because they have laws that prohibit passage or enforcement of local anti-discrimination laws. Ponder that for a moment.
In his book, “It’s not over: getting beyond tolerance, defeating homophobia, and winning true equality,” noted gay rights activist and radio host Michelangelo Signorile warned the LGBT community against “victory blindness.” This idea that winning marriage equality was the end of the fight for equality. Hardly. As the maps above show, there is a lot of work to do. Not just to expand the reach of equality to all LGBT Americans but also to protect the gains already made.
“The arc of the moral universe is long,” Martin Luther King Jr. often said, “but it bends towards justice.” Alabama’s Moore and others are working like hell to keep that from happening. Vigilance is required to keep them from succeeding.
Follow Jonathan on Twitter: @Capehartj
