Public Accommodations: Discrimination and Sexual Orientation

Antidiscrimination And Value Changes

In 1964, for the first time since the end of Reconstruction, Congress enacted a law banning race discrimination in public accommodations, Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is difficult today to understand why this law, which forbade hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and places of entertainment to discriminate based on race, color, or national origin, gave rise to such heated opposition and the longest filibuster in the history of the U.S. Senate. Landsberg (2015) in Public Accommodations and the Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Surprising Success? stated that “today, Title II gets little attention, while other non-discrimination laws, such as fair employment, fair housing, and voting rights legislation continue to produce litigation and garner public attention; yet, in 1963 and 1964, Title II was considered a key provision, as well as a very controversial one.” This is certainly not the case today with the legalization of same-sex marriage. The ascendancy of gay rights has been accompanied by a rise in assertions of religious freedom. These assertions have primarily taken the form of state legislative initiatives (Barbaro & Eckholm, 2015; Eilperin, 2014). Supporters have cited perceived growing threats and hostility to religious liberty as a basis for such initiatives. As illustrated in an interview conducted by Kristina Torres (2015) in Clergy Clash on ‘Religious Liberty’ Efforts at Capitol, the executive director of the Georgia Baptist Convention, J. Robert White states:

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines discrimination as “the practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people.” In the context of this paper, discrimination will be viewed based on sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a person’s sexual preference or identity as bisexual, heterosexual, or homosexual.”