document updated 13 years ago, on May 9, 2011
There's a common argument that goes something like:
By granting gay people civil rights, you're eliminating the civil rights of religious people.
I think it's rubish. But it's a tricky one. It IS true that there is religious discrimination that happens — there have been numerous cases where one religion or sect persecutes or exterminates another. There are cases, too, where violence doesn't occur — where the state needlessly limits what followers of a religion can do, just to make the followers' lives harder.
This saying comes to mind:
My freedom ends where yours begins.
That is: as long as a person's practice of religion involves only them (and other consensual followers), they should be allowed to practice their religion in any way they see fit. But as soon as their practice of religion starts impacting other people, who aren't followers of that religion, then it's no longer religious intolerance to put limits on those actions.
Statements by prominent conservatives
Pithy commentaries