On Thursday, February 19th, 2016, The Austin American-Statesman published an article titled "Walk carefully toward 'new religious' freedom laws." This particular article was written by the 'Editorial Board', so it makes it difficult to establish the writer's credibility, but I will say that I very much agree with the points given throughout the article. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is in favor of offering protection to people and/or companies that have "sincerely held religious beliefs." The article discusses the dangers that can possibly stem from this type of "religious" protection. The main point that the editorial board makes is the exclusion and discrimination that the LGBT community might face if businesses are given the rights to discriminate based on their religious beliefs. With this being said it becomes clear that the targeted audience is the LGBT community and people who hold a more liberal view on politics.
Personally speaking, I have been in a same-sex relationship for the past 4 years and it angers me to think of laws being passed to protect religious freedoms that can very possibly affect me and my partner. The article makes a good point in saying "Federal and state laws...already protect the religious rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, and do so without throwing off balance the equally important need to protect competing rights to avoid faith-based discrimination. The legislative journey Patrick wants lawmakers to take next year is an unnecessary one."
In recent years, same sex couples have been gaining more and more freedoms that traditional male and female couples receive. I think this angers a lot of non-progressive religious thinkers, and they want to manipulate the law to benefit their agenda, but it's my belief that they are on the wrong side of history and to create laws that allow groups to discriminate against minorities will only stifle our growth as a respectable State.
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