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Bigotry Backfires: Thanks to Kim Davis, Most Americans Now Oppose 'Religious Freedom' Laws

Bigotry Backfires: Thanks to Kim Davis, Most Americans Now Oppose 'Religious Freedom' Laws

Bigoted Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis shot to fame this summer when she refused to issue marriage licenses to couples after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, claiming that it would be a violation of her First Amendment rights. While right-wing hacks, like Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz, rushed to her side after she was jailed for violating court orders, the majority of America decided she was an example of everything that is wrong with “Religious Freedom” laws.

A new Associated Press-Gfk poll shows that fifty-six percent of Americans believe that government officials should put their personal religious beliefs aside when they are doing their jobs and issue same-sex marriage licenses whether they like it or not. This is compared to forty-one percent of people think that the Kim Davises of the country should be granted a religious exemption and be allowed to discriminate freely.

When the Supreme Court ruled in July that same-sex couples were allowed to get married because of the Equal Protection Clause the majority of Americans were in favor of exemptions. Forty-nine percent of people agreed that officials like Davis should be granted them and forty-seven percent did not agree. Republicans accounted for the biggest change; the number of right-wing voters who believe officials should be granted exemptions plummeted from seventy-two percent to fifty-eight percent.

This definitively proves that America has reached a new era of tolerance. It is no longer socially acceptable to openly discriminate against the LGBT community and Americans do not like bigots using God as an excuse. Kim Davis was so blatantly homophobic that even Republicans who originally supported her position could no longer stomach her. Republican candidates may support her, but America certainly doesn’t it. There is no place in this country for people who hide behind their religion and attack others, that goes against the very foundation this country was built upon and we will not stand idly by and allow it to happen.

Thanks, Kim Davis!

 

Colin Taylor
Opinion columnist and former editor-in-chief of Occupy Democrats. He graduated from Bennington College with a Bachelor's degree in history and political science. He now focuses on advancing the cause of social justice and equality in America.

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