Religion Is Not an Excuse for Gay Discrimination or Homophobia

By Alison Lesley --
01 Sep 2015 --

By Duffboy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

John Oliver was on roll with his satirical rant about those who hide behind religion to excuse their discrimination of the LGBT.

In one of the recent episodes of his Last Week Tonight show, John Oliver criticized in a humorous way how gay discrimination persists in the United States even after gay marriage is now legalized all across the country. According to Oliver, legal homophobia persists because offenders often use the constitutional amendment on religious freedom as an excuse to discriminate.

The comedian and TV presenter used the case of the Colorado baker Jack Phillips as an example. Phillips refused to accommodate a wedding cake order of a gay couple on the grounds of his religious beliefs. Phillips believed that the constitution guarantees such religious freedom “the right to practice my faith, my religion anywhere, anytime, there are no restrictions on that. It also gives me the right to free speech anytime, anywhere.”

Oliver argued against such statement and stressed that the constitutional rights of each individual including provisions on religious freedom have their limitations. Oliver ranted that “The constitution isn’t the star in Super Mario Brothers. It doesn’t make you invincible so you can do whatever the f*** you want.”

Even if same-sex marriage is now legal in all states, Oliver claims that the government failed to ensure equality for members of the LGBT community on all other aspects of life aside from marriage “In 31 states in America people are at risk of being fired, evicted or refused service just because they’re gay. While Federal law may guarantee a gay couple right to get married, it offers zero guarantee about their rights to do the things that follow that.”

John explains why you can't use religion to discriminate against the LGBT community: #JohnOliver #LastWeekTonight http://t.co/489U9fi6Gd
— Stephen Dorian (@KCDorianGray) August 25, 2015

The producers of the show have been busy trying to get comments from the presidential hopefuls whether they will support federal laws that will prohibit gay discrimination in all aspects. But majority of the politicians declined to give their opinion.

Oliver cited that the Equality Act filed in Congress is just “the bare minimum of not being discriminated against, and this should be what represents of true gay tolerance, not whether or not you would attend a gay wedding.”