Posted on 09/01/2012 6:26:52 AM PDT by IbJensen
A chill has just fallen upon the markets in Vermont as business owners can now be forced to do business against their consciences. A Roman Catholic family was recently sued by two lesbians from New York who wanted to use The Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville, Vermont as the site for a homosexual wedding reception. An employee from the inn informed the inquirers of the owners feeling about hosting such a reception and politely turned them down.
That polite refusal brought down the wrath of the ACLU and Vermont Human Rights Commission upon Jim and Mary OReilly, who could not match the resources the two giants brought against them. They settled out of court, giving $10,000 to the commission and $20,000 to a charitable trust run by two lesbians. They also agreed not to host any more receptions.
It seems painfully clear that liberals are content with abrogating the freedoms of some in order to enforce the freedoms of others in the name of equality. The implications of this decision are chilling.
Business can only operate in an atmosphere of freedom, and contract without coercion. The recent decision against the OReillys demonstrates how government is dictating the terms of a contract to owners and with whom they must do business. If owners insist upon honoring their consciences, they must either conform, or get out the business altogether.
Another consequence of this decision is that it sends the message that owners can expect to see an array of disproportional powers brought against them. Small owners now know they can be punished by government and have legal action taken against them if they dare disagree with the homosexual agenda. So much for land of the free.
Finally, business owners are now feeling the tyranny of an ideological agenda that has entered into the markets and violates all the rules, exercising a kind of commercial terrorism against any who oppose it. Business owners in Vermont now know that all it takes is a single phone call from an out of state activist to shut down their operations. As in the case of OReillys Wildflower Inn, an activist need not even speak to the owners but to a mere employee, and they may see their lifes work threatened.
In such an atmosphere of intimidations, markets cannot be free. The chilling message taken from this case against the Wildflower Inn is that the free market in Vermont is no longer free.
Why don't these weasels understand what a danger these pervets and their stinking agenda are to America?
It's all about our children!
I guess perversions come before religion now.
0bama’s legacy.
We concluded the other day that writing a provision into the contract that a portion of the cost of each reception would be donated to an organization like the National organization for Marriage, which supports one man-one woman, would be a good way of dissuading the same sex crowd.
Sadly too the people of VT, many transplanted New Yorkers, strongly support such policies against the independent and free businesspeople. The state is heavily anti-business, nothing like Ethan Allen presumably would have envisioned.
They want the votes. They could care less about the humanity they so tout.
They should immediately get a restraining order and work on getting this all the way up to SCOTUS if necessary. FIGHT THIS CRAP - “gay rights” is an oxymoron and has no place in our society. I don’t hate homosexuals, some are friends of mine, but I loathe and despise their political agenda
Good idea, and it goes to my point that people of faith just need to be smarter about how they do business. Why did the manager need to disclose the owner's religious leanings? She didn't, a mere "sorry, we're booked" would have sufficed.
Another example of “Lawfare”. The use of the high cost of justice to bully people into doing whatever you want, whoever can afford to spend the most money wins. This is one of the reasons we had a Revolution in 1776.
This article really says it all: A polite refusal which ought to have been met with simply seeking one of the many, many inns which would accomodate gay wedding receptions, turns into punitive litigation and a warning to others. Scary and depressing both. Needs to be reversed.
simple problem actually.
the day before the wedding just pull up the carpet, set off an fumigation bomb, and then repaint the interior. They can have their wedding and the Inn will get some well deserved upkeep.
Combine the state’s involvement with marriage with the state’s ability to decide who one will or will not do business with, and this is what you get.
Freegards
We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.
Stupid. All they had to say is that the venue was not available that day. Period.
Exactly.
This is a first amendment issue. Freedom to practice your religion, and freedom of assembly. Freedom of association conversely implies a freedom to DISASSOCIATE with those who you choose to NOT associate in the first place.
When will someone get some nutz and fire back at these pigs?
Never settle.
I would close my business and move elsewhere before I gave perverts one cent
The O’Reilly’s should have never backed down, ever. There are a wealth of conservative legal organizations who would have been willing to defend their case, much of it pro bono.
Before illegals and the Deamoncrat nation helped shut down my contracting business if I didn’t want to do business with a particular customer I doubled my bid. The said customer went else where and no one was the wiser.
If a business of any type chooses not to do business with any other for reason all their own just give the customer a price they can not afford. If they ask why the price is high tell them it is the price of doing business. Tell them you are sorry it is the best you can do, offer a competitor, give them no other explanation and send them packing. It never failed me and the offensive customer was off my books.
We start calling them “Christophobes” and pointing out that Christophobia, the fear of, and hatred of, Christians is just as bigoted as homophobia. We turn the ridicule back on them.
We point out that a boycott of a business they don’t agree with is perfectly acceptable, driving a man out of business
is not. Or perhaps they would like for us to demand that municipalites close down a Home Depot for every Chick-fil-a they target?
These are not officially sponsored events at WDW or Disneyland. It’s just a large group arranging to go there at the same time. Goths do it too (Bat Days) and so do homeschoolers. How would you propose they deal with it? The PDA stuff is out of line, but I happened to be at Disneyland on a similar occasion and did not see this type of behavior.
On a separate note, WDW does officially sponsor Night of Joy, which is a night of performances by Christian artists.
i GUARANTEE they will NOT like a product i am FORCED to provide to them... and it will be done in such a way as to avoid a lawsuit
Obama’s legacy? Are we not to remember the {father of gay marriage} our very own Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Obama’s legacy? Are we not to remember the {father of gay marriage} our very own Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Not officially sponsored but I think they pick the week or day and announce it, do they not?
I suspect that this was entirely a money making racket from the start. But that being said, the best response is contractual. That means making a contract ahead of time that has many cancellation clauses in it for everything *but* sexuality.
A good way to do so is to turn oppressive government regulations against each other. For example, the Americans with Disabilities Act is very authoritarian, so insert a clause in the contract that forbids the wedding party from violating the ADA, by anyone using perfumes, makeup, deodorizers, or a litany of other common things; as those would harm a person who is “hyper-allegic and environmentally sensitive.”
Then their contract can be canceled, *not* because they are lesbians, but because they are “stinky”.
What ever happened to the sign:
“We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to Anyone” being put on the front door/gate/entrance???
Rascist!
Don’t you know that homosexuals (perverts) are a protected minority.
It’s perfectly okay to shove one’s pee-pee up another’s poo-poo. And eventually these perverts will get married, adopt children and raise them up to be just like them!
23 What you said ...
Michael Eisner, aged 70, American businessman/ entertainment executive with ABC and then CEO of The Walt Disney Company from 1984-2005. Eisner brought in Jeffrey Katzenburg (later in partnership with Steven Speilberg and David Geffen (open homosexual) for Dreamworks SKG) as his 2nd in command. The Disney Co. had a strong brand image of family wholesomeness. Eisner immediately began producing adult-themed/R-rated films under the new Miramax label. In 1996, the American Family Association launched a boycott against Walt Disney Company (which the Southern Baptist Convention joined) when it began giving benefits to same-sex employees in domestic partnerships. The AFA claimed Eisner “was involved in a media group that actively promoted the homosexual agenda” and was pushing the “gay agenda”. The AFA and SBC ended the unsuccessful 9-year boycott in spring 2005 after Eisner left the company. Gay Days at Walt Disney World is a loosely organized event where lesbians, gays, bisexuals,transgendered, and questioning individuals (LGBTQ), their families, friends and supporters go to Disney World on a single day each year. Disney does not sanction Gay Days (and officially tells employees to treat it as any other summer day). Held on the 1st Saturday in June (with numerous other homosexual events in the area during the preceding week), it is now 1 of the largest gay pride events in the world. LGBTQ Pride Month in the United States is the month of June. It was chosen to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969. As a result, many pride events are held during this month to recognize the impact LGBTQ people have had in the world. On 5 occasions, the President of the United States has officially declared a Pride Month. First, President Bill Clinton declared June “Gay & Lesbian Pride Month” on June 2, 2000. Then, in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, President Barack Obama declared June Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. Eisners great-grandfather, Sigmund Eisner, was 1 of the 1st uniform suppliers to the Boy Scouts of America.
When the homos were pretending to be feminists, they were a dominate anti-family, anti-male (heterosexual male) social minority, too. They are just back in the saddle now, this time being openly homo mental cases.
To the "weasels", it's all about getting votes. Gays by themselves have few, but the politicians who pander to them pander to other groups for votes, too.
I don’t understand your reply. Are you confirming that Disney does not sanction Gay Days or trying to build a contrary argument?
No, they have no part in arranging or promoting it.
Confirming that Disneyworld (Orlando, FL) has no official Gay day/week/month celebration.
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