Bigotry is alive and well and living in the White House

The White House has indicated that the president is likely to use his veto to block legislation outlawing employment discrimination based on sexual preference, because – get this – it would infringe the religious freedoms of employers, and thus be unconstitutional.

If you’re thinking that argument sounds familiar, it is. It’s the exact same argument used by many religious people to oppose similar modifications to the UK’s Provision of Goods and Services Act late last year. Of course, that was a group of religious protesters that no-one took particularly seriously, whereas this is the most powerful man in the world, and while they held a torch-light vigil and prayed a lot (with predictably negligible result,) the president actually has the power to prevent the law passing.

It’s depressing.

Linked from Dispatches from the Culture Wars.