BUCKHANNON — On January 1, Mayor David McCauley told My Buckhannon that his LGBT “Non-Discrimination Ordinance” will be similar to legislation that cost several Christian business owners their companies for refusing to offer their services to same-sex wedding ceremonies or propaganda pertaining to homosexuality. This type of ordinance was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado.
“It’s going to be focused on nondiscrimination in housing, employment and virtually every other element [of public life] that people of color, people of varying ethnicities, ages, people that are handicapped, familial status, religion and in general, all of the protections that are accorded to those groups will be accorded to all people,” McCauley said. “The ordinance isn’t going to be confined or apply exclusively to that group. It will be a reiteration that we want to be inclusive of all people.”
“The vast majority of protected (from discrimination) class statuses are already mandated by state law,” he continued, “but there are only partial protections accorded to people based on orientation.”
“Each person on council will have to establish themselves as to what they think about it,” McCauley said when My Buckhannon asked how he believed the ordinance would fare. “At the end of the day, I have to be able to look myself in the mirror, and I don’t see sexual orientation as being any different from people of color, religion, gender, ethnicity, age or any other protected status. It just makes us more fully inclusive, and as everyone has heard me say for years, our city needs to be competent, inclusive, transparent and efficient.”
In 2015, Christian bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein were targeted by LGBT activists, and asked to bake a wedding cake that included homosexual content. When they politely declined, the LGBT activists filed a lawsuit against their bakery, Sweet Cakes by Melissa. The Klein’s bank accounts were seized and depleted, along with an account specifically set aside for their church tithes.
“Melissa Klein was checking her bank accounts just a few weeks before Christmas when her face turned ashen,” reported Fox News’ Todd Starnes. “The money was gone – every single penny.”
Their bakery was put out-of-business and their savings were confiscated, all because they would not violate their religious beliefs, refusing to create promotions of a behavior they believe harms those who practice it (sin). Aaron and Melissa have a family of 5 children, and they suddenly were without employment and had no way of supporting their family. The same legislation that made the Klein family a target, will make every Christian business owner in Buckhannon a target.
If the first reading of the ordinance passes on January 3rd, a second and final reading would be scheduled for council’s January 17th meeting.