Pardon my asking, but has it suddenly become ok not to hire because one isn't gay?

[Sikander]

This sort of thing has been going on forever. I see both sides of the issue, and find it hard to decide what the right policy should be. On the one hand I was a victim of this sort of discrimination in college when I couldn't get a job as a waiter. Like Zylka I was told point blank by a gay friend that in the 5 years he had worked there they had never hired a straight man. On the other hand I think that employers should have some right to choose people who they are comfortable working with, especially very small businesses. Probably the best solution is to ban discrimination, but keep the bar for proof high enough that very small business owners working out of their homes who do not come right out and say that they do not hire (gays or straights as the case may be) aren't driven out of business simply because they want to work with who they want to work with.

[Solly]

What sort of discrimination do you want to ban?

What if a firm's customers prefer being served by gays/someone with their characteristics? Or whites?

So in effect by resorting to discriminating, they are helping their business.

Well?

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Boddington's
What sort of discrimination do you want to ban?

What if a firm's customers prefer being served by gays/someone with their characteristics? Or whites?

So in effect by resorting to discriminating, they are helping their business.

Well?

This is why I'd like to leave small stuff alone. While letting a major employer like General Motors get away with it would be too much of an imposition on whomever they decided to discriminate against, I can see how The Rough Rider Leather Shop and Boutique might really see a downturn in business with the wrong personnel at the counter. I'm in no hurry to do much about it, in part because we have managed to solve this problem in most cases without messy civil rights lawsuits and bothersome regulations. If GM discriminated against gays for instance, they would see an immediate and noticable boycott crop up rather quickly. If Rough Rider, or a small Christian Bookstore were to be identified as discriminating, I don't think either of them would be put out of business by a boycott.