Idaho State Rep Wants to Turn Back the Civil Rights Clock

Last updated on: January 29, 2014 at 10:42 pm by Andrew H.

Idaho State Rep Wants to Turn Back the Civil Rights Clock 2014-01-29T22:42:36-08:00 Andrew H.

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In 1882, led by future state senator Fred T Dubois, the Territory of Idaho enacted a law disenfranchising all Mormons in the territory. This was done because at the time some Mormons practiced Polygamy and polygamy was an official teaching of the Church. This practice violated and offended the “sincerely held beliefs“ and Christian sensibilities of many of the other residents of Idaho. They felt that since they were morally offended by the Mormons way of life that they should be able to deny Mormons their right to vote.

Now in the state of Idaho, according to a story in the Twin Falls Idaho based “Times News” titled, “Idaho Bill Would OK Denial of Services to Gays, Single Mothers” a Mormon state Representative, Lynn Luker, R-Boise, has proposed a law that would allow people in Idaho to deny Gays and single mothers public services if these individuals offend their ““sincerely held beliefs.“ This includes, according to the story, allowing doctors to “deny providing medical treatment to gay people or even unmarried mothers…The same would be allowed for teachers to deny educating one of their students if they were gay. The bill would also allow psychologists to provide faith-based services as long as they cited they were exercising their religion.”

THIS IS WRONG and it is no different that the discrimination that was done to Lynn Luker’s Mormon Ancestors. When you allow ANYONE’S rights to be violated, you allow EVERYONE’S rights to be violated. If it offends someone’s “sincerely held beliefs” to serve a gay person then they, or someone else, may also find that it offends their “sincerely held beliefs” to serve a Muslim, or an African American, or a Spanish Speaker, or even, yes, a Mormon. Pretty soon Idaho will be filled with lots of segregated lunch counters, offices, and classrooms that only serve certain groups of people.

The state legislature of Idaho needs to understand that Civil Rights are for EVERYONE, not just for those that you agree with.

Here is a link to the original Times News Story

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