Sara Hardin 

Samuel Hackworth 

English 102 

26 April 2016 

Should religious business owners in Georgia be allowed to refuse LGBT customers?

Part 1: Personal Context- I am extremely interested in this research question because it is astounding that in the 21st century people still continue to discriminate against other people who are different. Humans should realize that everyone is different and deserves their own pursuit of happiness regardless of their sexual orientation. This research question affects me personally because I remember talking about the Georgia House Bill 756 titled "Discrimination Defense Act" in a history class in high school. My peers, both heterosexual and homosexual, were all against it just as much as I was. We had a long class discussion about if providing religious freedom should really give people the ability to discriminate against others and why we thought our lawmakers think that is okay to do. It is not an easy topic to explore because I understand the opposing side's validation for the bill in that they want to express their religion more freely but that should not include denying citizens of their rights. However, I think I am qualified to write about this because I am from the state of Georgia and I saw how people I know and do not know in my community were affected by this bill, both by listening to people first-hand and by watching television news reports. Reactions to the bill varied; some people were outraged and ready to protest and I also saw how hurt people were to the point where they cried about how society won't accept them for who they are. Additionally, big companies were so disappointed with the bill that they formed a coalition to speak out against it. 

Part 2: Three Sources- 

The first source I obtained information from is an argumentative article on the Human Rights Campaign website written by Stephen Peters, titled "Georgia Bill Attacking LGBT People and Other Minorities Passes Through Senate". The central claim is that the bill is attacking the LGBT community and other minorities, whether it was intended to or not. The major evidence supporting this claim is when the author, Stephen Peters, describes what the bill is capable of doing. In this he includes a paramedic being allowed to refuse providing aid to a LGBT person, businesses being able to refuse work with certain people, and school counselors to have the ability to not help a LGBT student. The major values and interests at stake are the reputation of Georgia, the higher tolerance for discrimination that can evolve from this bill, and the consequences businesses can face if they are known for rejecting certain people who come into their store. Not to mention the many people who are offended and hurt by the bill. While this author is a credible writer for the Human Rights Campaign in Washington D.C., a National Press Secretary, and founder of a company, his article could potentially be biased because he is homosexual. His sexual preference could make the article biased because of his strong feelings of hate for people who discriminate against him. 

The second source is an informative source from the Georgia Legislature website titled "2015-2016 Regular Session - HB 756 Commerce and trade; protect certain sellers of goods and services against infringement of religious freedom; provide" and it is the online version of the official bill. It was written by Kevin Tanner and the central claim of this source is that this bill is passed for religious purposes to protect all people. The evidence used to back up this claim is that the bill says people are not required to sell goods or services in a situation where they feel their religious beliefs are being infringed upon. The major values at stake in this source are simply that legislators of Georgia think aspects of religion are being violated so they want to give people the power to avoid that. There are no other interests described in the bill, which explains why it is only a little over 1 page long. The authors of this source are credible because they are the lawmakers of Georgia, however just because they are in positions of authority does not mean they are always right or have the citizens' best interests at heart. In addition, the lawmakers that created the bill are all white Christian males, which is impacting their judgment for what they think is best for everyone. If the lawmakers were a more diverse group of people, then this bill would have had a much harder time being passed.

The third source, written by Renetta DuBose, is an argumentative article named "Fighter of Black Civil Rights Shines Light On Expanded Rights For All" from a news station located in Augusta, GA. The central claim is that discrimination from the civil rights movement has evolved into discrimination with gay rights. The evidence to back up this statement is an interview and other quotes where the people are saying that not only is the bill unnecessary, it will also cause harm to certain people when our government should be protecting ALL people. Another piece of useful evidence is a statistic that states one-third of small business owners across the country think it is wrong to not provide service to certain people. The values at stake are future generations who might grow up thinking that discrimination against the LGBT community is the norm. The author of this article is a news reporter who seems credible because she includes quotes and wrote this article recently. I do not think the author would be biased for any reason because she also included an opposing opinion in the article. 

Part 3: Reflection- The research question is arguable because many Christian people do not support gay marriage because it is against their religion, however, other people have become more accepting of the LGBT community, so there is a strong divide in our country. The different perspectives help me to respect and value others' opinions, but they in turn solidify my own. I might revise my research question by making it about the correlation between religious people and discrimination because I think it is very intriguing to research whether or not a religious person is more likely to discriminate against LGBT people. The types of articles I included in my final paper explained that while the majority of the bill's supporters consider themselves very religious, there are still many faith-based people, even preachers and pastors, that are against the bill. Therefore, there is not a strong correlation between religion and discrimination because the people that made the law are promoting discrimination and just using religion as a way to justify it.  

Works Cited

Peters, Stephen "Georgia Bill Attacking LGBT People and Other Minorities Passes Through Senate." www.hrc.org Human Rights Campaign, 5 March 2015. 27 Jan. 2016. 

    DuBose, Renetta. "Fighter of Black Civil Rights Shines Light On Expanded Rights For All." wjbf.com  Channel 6 News. Web. 15 January 2016. 5 Feb. 2016. 

    Tanner, Kevin "2015-2016 Regular Session - HB 756

            Commerce and trade; protect certain sellers of goods and services against infringement of religious freedom; provide" www.legis.ga.gov Georgia General Assembly, 5 March 2015. 29 Jan. 2016. 

 
