Excerpt from Steven Rodriguez at outrightusa.org:
Petersen is no stranger to the LGBTQ community. He has demonstrated for and provided Libertarian outreach at Pride events for many years. Petersen says that his political positions stem from his desire to be compassionate to all individuals, including our community. He admits that he is unfamiliar with some issues that are important to Outright, particularly trans issues regarding legal gender determination, but maintains that he is a strictly against government interference in the free exercise of the individual’s desire to self-identify.
Petersen received high marks on every other aspect of our candidate questionnaire. He applauds the recent SCOTUS decision on marriage equality, regarding it as necessary and proper for allowing individuals to pursue their own happiness. He does not believe that marriage should be defined or regulated by any government institution. He believes in the power of markets for promoting social change, and calls for the repeal of every victimless crime that impacts our community. Under his Presidency, Petersen would institute a policy in which Americans can privately sponsor refugees from countries such as Syria, where homosexuals are being persecuted and murdered. Through these policies, Petersen is hopeful that his Presidency can set the tone, not just for LGBTQ rights in America, but for human rights around the world.
Andy, what you say happened is called trolling. Someone goes to various businesses attempting to “catch” the business violate some law or regulation such as the ADA so they can sue the business and get publicity and collect a monetary payout (the lawyers get a nice cut of any settlement).
This has happened in New Mexico (Photographers Elaine and Jonathan would not photograph a gay union ceremony), New Jersey (Orange Grove Methodist Church would not allow their church to be used to perform a gay couples ceremony), Washington (Barronelle Stutzman, a florist did not want to serve a gay couple who wanted flowers for their marriage ceremony, and Indiana (a pizza restaurant (Memories Pizza) owner was asked if they would perform catering services to a gay wedding ceremony. The owner said no.) .
The owners of these businesses (except the church) say they will serve those that are gay but not for a marriage ceremony because that goes against their religious beliefs.
I’m all in favor of equal rights for gays (and everyone else), but this this kind of crap should not fly.
Religious Freedom Crushed: Illinois Inn Fined Over $80,000 For Refusing to Host Gay Wedding
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=54488
From the article: “This is not about ‘equal rights,’ this is about extortion.
These fanatics could have gone anywhere to host their civil union, they instead chose to target and harass this one Inn owner and persecute him solely for his beliefs.”
Agreed.
Mike Shipley said: “We have never advocated for cake slavery but we do call out cake bigots and urge people to weaponize the market in self-defense as the LP platform suggests.”
Excellent. This is the way to handle such situations in a free society. I wish that this message would get out to more people.
The article is not quoted in its entirety, as it also states: “Given his position on force, Petersen is opposed to the Non-Aggression Principle, pitting himself against four decades worth of conventional wisdom within the Libertarian Party.”
Outright’s members trust us to stay focused on LGBT issues and let other Libertarian concerns be brought up by other caucuses. We have never advocated for cake slavery but we do call out cake bigots and urge people to weaponize the market in self-defense as the LP platform suggests.
Our questionnaire is comprehensive of a variety of ways force is applied by the state to interfere with the lives of GSM people. Read it yourself here: http://tinyurl.com/Outright2016
Because our work is very tightly focused on GSM issues, and because the “right” answers are easily derived from the NAP, it’s pretty easy to get a good score on this quiz and still be a scumbag. That’s actually good news; we’ve made it very difficult for openly homophobic candidates to find a home in the LP. That is our job.
Because of his positions on the NAP and the Statement of Principles, I will not be voting for Mr. Petersen as a delegate.
This gay delegate’s preference:
1. Darryl W. Perry
2. Gary Johnson
3. Marc Allan Feldman
4. John McAfee
5. Everyone not named Austin Petersen
For comparison:
“Outright Libertarians is happy to say that Marc Allan Feldman recieved the first perfect score on our questionaire. ”
http://www.outrightusa.org/joomla25/blog/353-meet-marc-allan-feldman
It’s instructive to see how Petersen (and his interviewer) dealt with the question of forcing bakers to make cakes for gay weddings.