Anti-Discrimination Laws are Misguided

February 12, 2017 T. Arthur Mason North Dakota

On Friday, the North Dakota House rejected House Bill 1386 which would have amended the North Dakota Century Code to include sexual orientation and gender identity as part of it’s anti-discrimination law. The vote was 22-69 and resulted in some pretty strong words towards the legislators that voted against it.

While I understand the frustrations of the LGBT community and their desire to be accepted by the mainstream of society, using government force as a means of gaining that acceptance is wholly inappropriate and misguided. Why? Because you can’t force someone to accept you, much more like you. And besides, why would you want to?

Furthermore, forcing someone to associate with you or to give you a job or even to rent you a place to live violates their right of association (or disassociation) and private property rights. The idea that they must be forced to do these things indicates that you have a right to By now, someone has inevitably come to the conclusion that I am a bigoted homophobe. Not so. I just don’t

believe that forced acceptance works. Take a place of employment for example. Suppose that the employer really despises those in the LGBT community. Why would anybody in the LGBT community want to work with or for that employer?

Passing laws such as HB 1386 does little to nothing to change people’s views. The heavy hand of government may well threaten people with legal consequences should they be convicted of discrimination, but can government ever change the heart of the individual? Never.

Let’s suppose that HB 1386 had passed and was signed into law. How is it to be enforced? How can it be proven that someone was refused service and been denied employment or housing based off of discrimination of their sexual orientation and gender identity? For the most part, it can’t. When anti-discrimination laws are put into place, they cause those that discriminate to do so in a more discreet way.

If those in the LGBT community want the high ground on this one, then they need to stop trying to employ the force of government to gain the acceptance they so desperately are looking for.

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About T. Arthur Mason 883 Articles
T. Arthur Mason is a native North Dakotan who has spent nearly all of his life in the Peace Garden State. As the third of four children in Western North Dakota, Mason grew to appreciate family and the outdoors. Some of his fondest memories are annual deer hunts with family and friends. In his early teenage years, faith became a central part of T. Arthur Mason's life. He and the majority of his family attend church together on a weekly basis and find this a fulfilling aspect of their lives. Through the influence of his father, T. Arthur Mason became intrigued with politics. As a boy, he attended political events with his father and enjoyed the friendships that resulted as a byproduct of those political associations. As Mason grew older, he became convinced that the quote often attributed to Thomas Jefferson was true, "That government is best which governs least." Today, T. Arthur Mason enjoys time with his wife and children, an occasional hunt, and an increasingly active life on the political scene. This blog is the fulfillment of a dream to design a web site in the realm of politics and to advocate for the principles of Liberty and constitutionally limited government. On behalf of all those that contribute to The Minuteman, we hope you enjoy your time on the site and will share the message with others.

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