Editor,

The reactionary six-member majority of the SCOTUS reduced the rule of law to brute force in the service of religious nationalism. That decision green-lights American businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people by “legally” refusing them service.

And it’s more than just a “legal” injury, Robert Hubbell observes. It’s an injury to every LGBTQ teenager who wonders where they fit into a society that says they are fair game for discrimination because … because why? Are they “less than?” Is the core of their personhood judged an “affront” to an angry Christian god? Are their feelings of love for another person “wrong” or “immoral?” SCOTUS would have us think so. Their decision is reprehensible and morally wrong. It’s harmful, mean-spirited, un-Christian, depraved, and, until last Friday, purely un-American.

Let’s not forget that federal elections next year are now only 15 months away. But that’s time enough for us to heed this clarion call for justice by working to elect fair-minded federal law-makers from ours and other states who in Washington D.C. can represent our values of fairness and inclusiveness. We can’t afford to sit this one out. If we don’t stand up to protect LGBTQ individuals with every ounce of our will, we will deserve what’s coming.

Steve Burr

Clinton