Recently, gay rights have been at the center of a hotbed of controversy due to Indiana’s “Religious Freedom” law. 

Since Governor Mike Pence of Indiana signed the barbaric law into effect, which basically states that a business owner can’t be sued by refusing service to someone based on their sexual orientation, people have, for obvious reasons, voiced their concerns over this law. 

I am not going to waste anyone’s time talking about everything that is wrong with this law, which has since been rewritten, but I am going to tell you what is annoying about this situation. 

Republican proponents of this law, anti-LGBT activists and other delusional people who happen to have Internet access, have defended this law all the same. Their excuse when being called a bigot is that it is their religious right. They claim they do not hate gay people, but they do have a right to treat you as less of a human being than others, because they are Christian. 

That defense, “I am a Christian” is not only the most redundant defense used by the religious right, but it also doesn’t make sense. I was raised Catholic, and I do not recall ever being taught to refuse service to someone based on their lifestyle. Of course the Catholic Church has its own problems, especially pertaining to LGBT issues, but it is baffling to me that people can justify intolerance and inequality with religion. It kind of reminds me of that group in the Middle East; you know, ISIS. 

Every day, ISIS harasses and kills people for being gay. Just recently, ISIS has made headlines for throwing gay men off of buildings and then stoning them to death. They have restricted the ability to obtain basic human rights for those within their grasp; in particular, religious minorities, women and LGBT persons. Just how does ISIS justify brutal killings and imprisonment of innocent people? You guessed it, religion. 

Okay, so maybe comparing refusing to cater a gay wedding and throwing a gay couple off of a building to their death is a little extreme, but are they really that much different if they are both defended by the purpose of religion? At the end of the day, it is just different types of discrimination backed up by the principles of a certain religion. 

However, some members of the religious right would probably be comfortable with the persecution of LGBT people in the name of religion. For example, after this so-called “religious freedom” law was passed in Indiana, Sen. Tom Cotton of Mississippi claimed to be “confused” by all the backlash Indiana and Gov. Pence were receiving and responded: “The gay people of America should have a better perspective, they could be living in Iran where they execute people for being gay.” 

Oh, okay. So now I should be able to sleep at night knowing that although people in this country want to refuse service to me and treat me like a second-class citizen, I should be happy they are not lynching me or dragging me to the town square to be roasted? How are people like Sen. Cotton holding positions in federal office, let alone any government position at all? 

Obviously, this situation upsets me, but luckily for me I do not plan on getting married, and even if I did, it would definitely not take place in Indiana. However, I do ask people who continue to voice their opposition to gay rights to please stop justifying their hatred with religion. Just be honest. You are a homophobic, judgmental bigot, who must use religion as a scapegoat for your true feelings. You hate gay people, you feel we are ruining families and, in your worldview, LGBT people are corrupting our society and are the root of all that is evil in the world. Great, I am glad you are so forward-thinking and progressive, but quit trying to fool everyone else by still claiming to be Christian. You aren’t fooling anyone, and you especially aren’t fooling Jesus Christ.