Letters from readers: Equal, not special, rights

Being able to fire someone for being gay but you can't fire someone for being straight isn't equal. No one should be fired or denied service from businesses because they are gay, bi, straight, intersex, male, female, or trans, etc. Straights have special rights/privileges to marry and straights have the right to be open that they are straight in the military (now gays do too since the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell).

Also check out this thread about it:

Mayor Alvin Brown's position on Jacksonville human rights ordinance could be tricky

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/jacksonville-...

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-05-21...

Are you going to be there today at City Hall?

equalityboy81 wrote:

Being able to fire someone for being gay but you can't fire someone for being straight isn't equal. No one should be fired or denied service from businesses because they are gay, bi, straight, intersex, male, female, or trans, etc. Straights have special rights/privileges to marry and straights have the right to be open that they are straight in the military (now gays do too since the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell).

Actually, in any right to work state you can be fired for being gay, straight, or because it is Tuesday. The basic premise in the workplace is that if you, as an employee can walk in and tell your boss you quit and walk out, then your boss can walk up to you and tell you that you are fired. If you can quit your job without a reason then the company can quit you without a reason.

I've let lots of people go and only in rare circumstances do I give a reason why the person is being let go. Because as soon as I say it's because of X, I get a letter from an lawyer telling me I have to defend myself. Anyone who fires someone for "being gay" is just asking for a lawsuit.

Same with a business refusing service. It doesn't have to give a reason. Since you are not required to eat or do business in a specific establishment, they are not required to do business with you either. Pretty simple concept.

Next point. Straights don't have any special rights in getting married. Marriage is between a man and a woman. It can be a straight man and a straight woman, a gay man and a gay woman, a straight man and a gay woman or a gay man and a straight woman. Both gay men and gay women are free to marry a person of the opposite gender of their choice.

Also, homosexuals are the only one's who parade their sexual choice around the world. You are correct in a way, there is no parade for heterosexuals, or for those who like to have sex with animals, with the dead, or whatever. Only those who choose a homosexual lifestyle get a parade. Why is that?

Selecia Jones- JAX FL wrote:

Are you going to be there today at City Hall?

Sorry I wasn't able to make it. I hope those on our side helped people to understand that we shouldn't be able to be fired from our jobs because we are gay, etc.

FLBeaver wrote:

<quoted text>
Actually, in any right to work state you can be fired for being gay, straight, or because it is Tuesday. The basic premise in the workplace is that if you, as an employee can walk in and tell your boss you quit and walk out, then your boss can walk up to you and tell you that you are fired. If you can quit your job without a reason then the company can quit you without a reason.
I've let lots of people go and only in rare circumstances do I give a reason why the person is being let go. Because as soon as I say it's because of X, I get a letter from an lawyer telling me I have to defend myself. Anyone who fires someone for "being gay" is just asking for a lawsuit.
Same with a business refusing service. It doesn't have to give a reason. Since you are not required to eat or do business in a specific establishment, they are not required to do business with you either. Pretty simple concept.
Next point. Straights don't have any special rights in getting married. Marriage is between a man and a woman. It can be a straight man and a straight woman, a gay man and a gay woman, a straight man and a gay woman or a gay man and a straight woman. Both gay men and gay women are free to marry a person of the opposite gender of their choice.
Also, homosexuals are the only one's who parade their sexual choice around the world. You are correct in a way, there is no parade for heterosexuals, or for those who like to have sex with animals, with the dead, or whatever. Only those who choose a homosexual lifestyle get a parade. Why is that?

Listen buster, I didn't choose to be gay and I shouldn't be able to be fired because of who I love. Please don't compare my love for another human being to those into bestiality. I would not insult your heterosexual relationship that so please extend me the same courtesy. Loving another human being is not the same as having sex with animals and dead people. You are quite sick in your way of thinking. Even if homosexuality were a choice religion is a PROTECTED CHOICE. With the right to work law in Florida you still can't be legally fired because of your gender, race, religion, and disability. Why should people be able to fire people just because they disapprove of them being gay or trans? That is so stupid!

You can't deny someone service at a restaurant because they are black, white, Jewish, Native American, male, female, Christian, Muslim, or in a wheelchair so you shouldn't be able to deny service to someone because they are gay. The argument you made would only make sense if businesses were truly able to refuse service to anyone. I could be sued if I owned a restaurant and refused service to you because you were a heterosexual, white, conservative, Republican, Christian male but I would have no legal recourse if you refused me service because I'm gay. That doesn't sound equal to me and that is why this ordinance is need to ensure that everyone is protected.

You probably feel so special and are laughing to yourself that you are protected and we are not. One of these days we will no longer be treated as second and third class citizens. It's not a matter of if but when.

FLBeaver wrote:

<quoted text>
Actually, in any right to work state you can be fired for being gay, straight, or because it is Tuesday. The basic premise in the workplace is that if you, as an employee can walk in and tell your boss you quit and walk out, then your boss can walk up to you and tell you that you are fired. If you can quit your job without a reason then the company can quit you without a reason.
I've let lots of people go and only in rare circumstances do I give a reason why the person is being let go. Because as soon as I say it's because of X, I get a letter from an lawyer telling me I have to defend myself. Anyone who fires someone for "being gay" is just asking for a lawsuit.
Same with a business refusing service. It doesn't have to give a reason. Since you are not required to eat or do business in a specific establishment, they are not required to do business with you either. Pretty simple concept.
Next point. Straights don't have any special rights in getting married. Marriage is between a man and a woman. It can be a straight man and a straight woman, a gay man and a gay woman, a straight man and a gay woman or a gay man and a straight woman. Both gay men and gay women are free to marry a person of the opposite gender of their choice.
Also, homosexuals are the only one's who parade their sexual choice around the world. You are correct in a way, there is no parade for heterosexuals, or for those who like to have sex with animals, with the dead, or whatever. Only those who choose a homosexual lifestyle get a parade. Why is that?

I think at one time that blacks were told they have the same right to marry their own race that whites had to marry their own race. The truth is you have the right to marry the woman you love. I am denied the right to marry the man I love. You are heartless, cruel, bigoted, and mean-spirited but I'm sure you are proud of that. That makes a good Republican business man right? Marriage equality for gays will happen one day. Each generation is more accepting than the previous. I'm sure you are over 45 or 50.

Straights could serve openly in the military, gays couldn't. Double standard! Straights can marry who they love and gays cannot in most states and the federal government doesn't recognize it anywhere. Until recently gays weren't protected under the federal hate crime law, they aren't protected as students in schools like religion, race, gender, and disability are, etc. The list can go on. Don't tell me gays aren't treated as second and third class citizens because you know they are and you enjoy every bit of it and want things to remain the way they are. Jacksonville is seen as backwards by other areas because as a big city they still have no protections for the LGBT community.

Can you please hint at what business you run because I don't want to do business with someone that sees me as less than other American citizens and compares me to necrophiliacs and those into bestiality, etc. If you don't like gays I really don't want you to have my money.

Have you posted under the Florida Times-Union articles because there is another screenname there that talks a lot like you and also owns a business.

Republicans aren't going to be able to keep winning forever by using gays as a wedge issue.

You should not judge and stereotype all gays based on what a few do or something that you don't like that goes on in gay pride.

Blacks were refused service at restaurants because of their race and now gays are and can be treated the same way still. Not much has changed in the United States, just another minority being treated differently than other citizens. Somewhere in the U.S. or all over in the 30's or 40's there was some law that was made it illegal to serve homosexuals in bars and I believe restaurants too. There is a comparison between the struggles of blacks and gays. Blacks were also denied jobs, housing, and public accommodations and now society sees that that is wrong but they didn't learn much from it because they are still doing it but to a different group; the LGBT community.

FLBeaver wrote:

<quoted text>
Actually, in any right to work state you can be fired for being gay, straight, or because it is Tuesday. The basic premise in the workplace is that if you, as an employee can walk in and tell your boss you quit and walk out, then your boss can walk up to you and tell you that you are fired. If you can quit your job without a reason then the company can quit you without a reason.
I've let lots of people go and only in rare circumstances do I give a reason why the person is being let go. Because as soon as I say it's because of X, I get a letter from an lawyer telling me I have to defend myself. Anyone who fires someone for "being gay" is just asking for a lawsuit.
Same with a business refusing service. It doesn't have to give a reason. Since you are not required to eat or do business in a specific establishment, they are not required to do business with you either. Pretty simple concept.
Next point. Straights don't have any special rights in getting married. Marriage is between a man and a woman. It can be a straight man and a straight woman, a gay man and a gay woman, a straight man and a gay woman or a gay man and a straight woman. Both gay men and gay women are free to marry a person of the opposite gender of their choice.
Also, homosexuals are the only one's who parade their sexual choice around the world. You are correct in a way, there is no parade for heterosexuals, or for those who like to have sex with animals, with the dead, or whatever. Only those who choose a homosexual lifestyle get a parade. Why is that?

If marriage isn't a right but a privilege then heterosexuals are given special rights/privileges. Why is a heterosexual relationship treated as more special than a homosexual relationship and given benefits by the government? What does a heterosexual man do to earn marriage since privileges are supposed to be earned other than like a pair of legs and hooters or get a chick knocked up? Heterosexuals could get married to a different person every year if they wanted but a homosexual couple that has loved each other for 20 years couldn't. So much for the sanctity of marriage but this thread isn't about marriage but basic fairness such as not being able to be fired, not hired, denied a promotion or raise simply because one is LGBT or denied a seat at a restaurant or buying groceries at the store or denied a hotel/motel room or house/apartment to rent simply because one is LGBT.

It's so sad that in the south in the 21st century that they still want the right to discriminate against, oppress, and deny services and jobs to people because of who they are just like the south did to blacks in the mid-late 20 century. Now they are doing it to gays.

equalityboy81 wrote:

<quoted text>
Listen buster, I didn't choose to be gay and I shouldn't be able to be fired because of who I love. Please don't compare my love for another human being to those into bestiality. I would not insult your heterosexual relationship that so please extend me the same courtesy. Loving another human being is not the same as having sex with animals and dead people. You are quite sick in your way of thinking. Even if homosexuality were a choice religion is a PROTECTED CHOICE. With the right to work law in Florida you still can't be legally fired because of your gender, race, religion, and disability. Why should people be able to fire people just because they disapprove of them being gay or trans? That is so stupid!

“Listen buster”? Really? How old are you?
According to science (evolution) you do choose who to mate with. If a desire to mate with the same sex and thus not procreate was part of our DNA it would have been eliminated long before humans showed up. Two animals millions of years ago, Adam and Steve go set up house. No kids and that’s the end of the line. Basic TOE says you can’t be born a homosexual. Thus it is a choice.
I’m not comparing love for another human with bestiality. I was comparing your choice to mate with someone of the same gender with that of someone who chooses to mate with something other than a human. It’s a choice. Never said it was a bad choice, a weird choice or a wrong choice. It’s a choice and like all choices, it has consequences.
Eventually you’ll get a real job and learn how businesses operate. I doubt you’ll ever manage people but at some point you’ll learn that people can and do get fired for all sorts of reasons. Just like people don’t get hired for a variety of reasons. As I said, only an idiot would say he was firing someone because they were gay, or black, or old, or male, or fat, or skinny. A business doesn’t need a reason to let someone go. That’s a myth perpetuated by simpletons.
Why should someone be able to fire people just because they disapprove of them being gay or trans? Simple. It is their business and so they have the right to hire and fire whomever they want. If I don’t want to hire X, as a business owner or even a manager that is my prerogative. No one has the right to force me to hire someone I don’t want to. Nor does someone have the right for prevent me from letting someone go whom I don’t like. That is their choice.
You say that you should have the right to choose who to marry but then you get upset that a business has the right to choose who they hire, fire, or serve. Typical illogical liberal.

equalityboy81 wrote:

You can't deny someone service at a restaurant because they are black, white, Jewish, Native American, male, female, Christian, Muslim, or in a wheelchair so you shouldn't be able to deny service to someone because they are gay. The argument you made would only make sense if businesses were truly able to refuse service to anyone. I could be sued if I owned a restaurant and refused service to you because you were a heterosexual, white, conservative, Republican, Christian male but I would have no legal recourse if you refused me service because I'm gay. That doesn't sound equal to me and that is why this ordinance is need to ensure that everyone is protected.

Don't get out much do you? Have you ever noticed the signs in the restaurants that say "We reserve the right to refuse service"? Apparently not.

Life is not equal. It never has been nor will it ever be. And only a fool (which defines the left) thinks that equality and fairness can be legislated.

equalityboy81 wrote:

<quoted text>
I think at one time that blacks were told they have the same right to marry their own race that whites had to marry their own race. The truth is you have the right to marry the woman you love. I am denied the right to marry the man I love. You are heartless, cruel, bigoted, and mean-spirited but I'm sure you are proud of that. That makes a good Republican business man right? Marriage equality for gays will happen one day. Each generation is more accepting than the previous. I'm sure you are over 45 or 50.
Straights could serve openly in the military, gays couldn't. Double standard! Straights can marry who they love and gays cannot in most states and the federal government doesn't recognize it anywhere. Until recently gays weren't protected under the federal hate crime law, they aren't protected as students in schools like religion, race, gender, and disability are, etc. The list can go on. Don't tell me gays aren't treated as second and third class citizens because you know they are and you enjoy every bit of it and want things to remain the way they are. Jacksonville is seen as backwards by other areas because as a big city they still have no protections for the LGBT community.
Can you please hint at what business you run because I don't want to do business with someone that sees me as less than other American citizens and compares me to necrophiliacs and those into bestiality, etc. If you don't like gays I really don't want you to have my money.
Have you posted under the Florida Times-Union articles because there is another screenname there that talks a lot like you and also owns a business.
Republicans aren't going to be able to keep winning forever by using gays as a wedge issue.
You should not judge and stereotype all gays based on what a few do or something that you don't like that goes on in gay pride.

"You are heartless, cruel, bigoted, and mean-spirited" Wow, you really hurt me. Not. Grow up. If you want to have an adult conversation about this, go ahead. Otherwise go find someplace else to emote.

Marriage is not a right nor is gay marriage a civil right. You should read the article you posted that quoted several blacks reaffirming that being gay and being black are not the same.

Gays aren't protected in schools like religion? A kid can wear a "gay pride" shirt to school without problem. If a kid wears a "Love Jesus" or "Bow to Islam" they are told to take it off. Heck, I'm from CA and the courts ruled that kids couldn't wear shirts with the American flag on it but it was ok for kids to wear shirts with the Mexican flag on it. I agree that gay kids get picked on, but so do fat kids, and short kids and on and on and on. Kids pick on other kids for a lot of stupid reasons, and passing laws won't stop it.

Nope, never posted in the Florida Times-Union. Not interested.

Homosexuality may become more accepted. It was very much accepted a long time ago. Then it wasn't. So it may be again. However you aren't helping your cause and so far, no one has been able to make a legitimate case other than acting like a six year old, stomping their feet and shouting "it isn't fair."

I don't have a lot of respect for adults who act like they are six, nor for adults who give in to a six year olds temper tantrum.

equalityboy81 wrote:

It's so sad that in the south in the 21st century that they still want the right to discriminate against, oppress, and deny services and jobs to people because of who they are just like the south did to blacks in the mid-late 20 century. Now they are doing it to gays.

The south? Now look who is showing their prejudice!
In all 32 states where gay marriage has been on the ballot, voters have rejected it. California has defeated gay marriage initiatives several times, the latest 52%-48%. Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Utah, Pennsylvania, are real “southern” aren’t they?

You can't take a little smack from EQ BOI!!!! GO EQ...hold him down till he gets it!

equalityboy81 wrote:

<quoted text>
If marriage isn't a right but a privilege then heterosexuals are given special rights/privileges. Why is a heterosexual relationship treated as more special than a homosexual relationship and given benefits by the government? What does a heterosexual man do to earn marriage since privileges are supposed to be earned other than like a pair of legs and hooters or get a chick knocked up? Heterosexuals could get married to a different person every year if they wanted but a homosexual couple that has loved each other for 20 years couldn't. So much for the sanctity of marriage but this thread isn't about marriage but basic fairness such as not being able to be fired, not hired, denied a promotion or raise simply because one is LGBT or denied a seat at a restaurant or buying groceries at the store or denied a hotel/motel room or house/apartment to rent simply because one is LGBT.

If the gay community spent as much time and money fixing the civil union laws as they have spent trying to change the marriage laws, this issue would have gone away 20 years ago. You lost the "we just want equal rights" a long time ago when you focused on changing the definition of marriage instead of advocating equalizing civil union laws.

FLBeaver wrote:

<quoted text>
If the gay community spent as much time and money fixing the civil union laws as they have spent trying to change the marriage laws, this issue would have gone away 20 years ago. You lost the "we just want equal rights" a long time ago when you focused on changing the definition of marriage instead of advocating equalizing civil union laws.

Faaagboyz -- envious and mean spirited and HIV_infected pervoz --- just want to shiit on the marriage table set by straight hetero-couples.

Post modern faaagboy/Dikdykes are like thieves shiiting on the parlour rug of a house they have just burgled ... spitful and hateful and hissing like rabid copperheads. I'd see them slapped down ... and slapped down hard.

FLBeaver wrote:

<quoted text>
Actually, in any right to work state you can be fired for being gay, straight, or because it is Tuesday. The basic premise in the workplace is that if you, as an employee can walk in and tell your boss you quit and walk out, then your boss can walk up to you and tell you that you are fired. If you can quit your job without a reason then the company can quit you without a reason.
I've let lots of people go and only in rare circumstances do I give a reason why the person is being let go. Because as soon as I say it's because of X, I get a letter from an lawyer telling me I have to defend myself. Anyone who fires someone for "being gay" is just asking for a lawsuit.
Same with a business refusing service. It doesn't have to give a reason. Since you are not required to eat or do business in a specific establishment, they are not required to do business with you either. Pretty simple concept.
Next point. Straights don't have any special rights in getting married. Marriage is between a man and a woman. It can be a straight man and a straight woman, a gay man and a gay woman, a straight man and a gay woman or a gay man and a straight woman. Both gay men and gay women are free to marry a person of the opposite gender of their choice.
Also, homosexuals are the only one's who parade their sexual choice around the world. You are correct in a way, there is no parade for heterosexuals, or for those who like to have sex with animals, with the dead, or whatever. Only those who choose a homosexual lifestyle get a parade. Why is that?

You are a typical authoritarian: hostile, conformist and poorly educated. And so it goes.