opinion

If you want to discriminate against people, just say so

Don't want to serve gay people? Fine. But be straight about it.

That's what some equal rights advocates are saying, as state lawmakers consider passing laws to protect business owners who don't want gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender customers: Those business owners should post signs, stating who they'll not do business with.

There's a threefold benefit: Business owners with strongly held beliefs can state them loud and proud. Prospective LGBT patrons can avoid the frustration and inconvenience of being denied service. And those of us who want to can spend our money elsewhere.

It's a practical suggestion advanced around the country by state lawmakers, and here in Michigan by the Satanic Temple of Detroit — get past the name, their points are well-made and valid — and it's difficult to imagine on what grounds any business owner could object. If you believe it's OK to deny service to individuals based on sexual orientation or gender identity, why not say it? And if the idea of saying it, publicly and definitively, makes you uncomfortable — if the idea of hanging a sign in your business saying which groups of people aren't welcome — well, maybe you should indulge in a little self-examination.

In Michigan, it's legal to discriminate against customers based on sexual orientation or gender identity. A push last year to expand the state's civil rights law to include protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender Michiganders failed. So did a bill that would carve out overarching protections for businesses that discriminate, but piecemeal efforts to preserve different components of discrimination are under way in Lansing.

Advocates for state-level religious freedom restoration acts like to say that it's a sensitive balance between a free and equitable society and respect for sincerely held beliefs. But this is where things get real — if protecting your sincerely held religious beliefs required you to advertise them on a sign, how virtuous does that feel?

The Satanic Temple calls it "discrimination transparency." They've even made downloadable, printable signs for local businesses, offering two distinct messages: "Due to sincerely held religious beliefs, service is denied to ______," and its opposite, "Due to sincerely held beliefs, all are welcome."

The proverbial example given, when social conservatives illustrate the need for such protections, is a baker whose religious beliefs prohibit making a wedding cake for a gay couple. But as we saw last month, when a metro Detroit pediatrician refused to see an infant with lesbian parents, the implications reach further than baked goods.

But beyond that, what we're talking about is legally protected discrimination. Before the civil rights movement, businesses could also choose their customers: No minorities, no Irish, no Italians. Noxious, but honest. Today's discrimination cloaks itself in religious virtue, masking bigotry as a belief worthy of respect.

So say it.

If you're out and gay, you live your authentic self every day. If you're transgender, your very existence is political. If you're a business owner who doesn't want to do business with gay or transgender Michiganders, you should be as brave as those you refuse to serve.

Contact Nancy Kaffer at nkaffer@freepress.com.