Freedom of Association

 The Freedom of Association is a foundation of the American way of life. While not spelled out specifically in the US Constitution, the concept that you as a individual can hang out with whoever you want is a fundamental basic human right in the eyes of most people in this nation. It also means that the US government cannot FORCE people to associate with one another. That sort of disastrous policy has been shown to be a complete and utterly failure if you look at the one of the more important Supreme Court rulings in the last 100 years. Segregation was meant to be a tool to force change in the American society, and it has been a debacle since its inception. While trying to encourage whites and blacks to get along, it actually caused a reverse problem. People cannot be coerced into liking one another, and race relations between whites and blacks in the USA is at an all time low. As another side effect, black grades in "integrated" schools are actually worse than when schools were segregated, but thats' a side note.

As a gay man, I have no problem with gay bar owners denying service to women or lesbians. If I want to go out and be with men, I should be allowed too. Trust me, lesbians feel the same way, having their own all-women bars as well (and liking it). People self-segregate all the time and its normal. What's abnormal is having the government demanding people consort with others that they don't want too. I was a bouncer in an all-black bar in Denver; whites weren't welcome, neither were hispanics, and I had no problem with it. Again, people like who they want, and will hang out with whoever they want (or don't want). I have no problem with people not baking cakes or making flower arrangements for ceremonies they do not believe in. That isn't hateful, its called "choice".

Any ruling by the US Supreme Court in this area of law will be bad, no matter which way the Court rules. Luckily, part of this issue has already been resolved vis-a-vis the ruling about the Boy Scouts in 2000 when they said since that organization was private, they could choose who could be accepted or not. I myself am a former scout and have no problem with this decision; I don't want to see girl scouts in the boy scouts. To be honest, from what I can see only left-wing "group think" is actually pushing this issue: people on the right want MORE freedoms in our society, not less, making them the true Freedom Party in this great nation of ours.

One ruling damages civil society, and one damages personal freedoms. For example, if the Court rules that businesses can deny services to others for any reason, they we will see militant discrimination in businesses where groups like Proud Boys will be driven out of bars in West Hollywood, or Christians arent welcome to shop in a gay mall in Los Angeles (both real world examples). This damages civil society and should not be accepted or encouraged. However, such a ruling DOES support the freedom of the individual, which I fully support. So either way, we are boned.

In the end, the freedom to associate with whoever you want (or don't want) is a principal right of the individual, and should not be altered based on peoples "feelings" on this issue.