Hoping the high court chooses fairness for all
As a small-business owner, I believe businesses that are open to the public should always be open to everyone. We all remember learning the Golden Rule as kids — to treat others as we want to be treated.
My family has been in the insurance business for more than 60 years. We sell personal and business insurance, so we get to know the ins and outs of our clients’ lives. It never crossed my mind that an LGBTQ customer could be turned away from a business simply because of who they are. But when my daughter was planning her wedding with her future wife, I realized she could be denied service just because someone objects to marriage between same-sex couples. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case that could decide whether small businesses are able to cite their religious beliefs in order to turn away LGBTQ customers.
As a small-business owner, I believe businesses that are open to the public should always be open to everyone.
We all remember learning the Golden Rule as kids — to treat others as we want to be treated.
My job as a small-business owner is to serve my neighbors and help my community grow, and my job as a human being is to love others and treat them as I would want to be treated. Discrimination goes against my values as a conservative libertarian, a man of faith and a small-business owner.
I was raised in a very political family in Oklahoma. My dad never ran for office, but he was active in the Republican Party, serving as a delegate to national conventions in the 1960s and 1970s. The predominant political philosophy in our home was conservative, but not the same kind of “conservative” we hear a lot about today. We believed in small government and individual liberty, and we were raised to stand up for what is right, whether we agreed or disagreed with what someone else believed.
When I’m hiring someone, my top priority is finding someone who can get the job done. My employees have a job to do no matter what they do in their personal lives. I feel the same way about my customers. We don’t discriminate against people based on where they’re from, what they believe, what they look like or who they love. It’s not my job to judge them. It’s my job to treat a customer how I would want to be treated.
Owning a business is hard work, but no matter how a person feels about gay or transgender people, it’s important that businesses follow the law and treat customers fairly. It’s good for business and good for the community. We can’t pick and choose which laws to follow, and no one should be exempt from treating everyone fairly under the law.
Beyond my duty as a small-business owner, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have LGBTQ loved ones. I love my daughter unconditionally, even though I didn’t imagine she would one day marry a woman. No matter how someone feels about my daughter’s marriage, no one should turn customers away because of who they are.
My parents taught us to live by the Golden Rule, and this is no different. I’m proud to keep my business open to all and I’m hopeful the Supreme Court will rule on behalf of fairness for all.