Many of you know elements of my personal life. Many of you know that I joke about how much better my life would have been without the state of Arizona. Now that half my friends who even have a passing connection to AZ have stopped reading this, I'll use a disclaimer. I do not believe the people of Arizona have a secret plot to make my life more difficult, but it seems like a lot of negativity seems to come to me from people from that state (keep reading, it gets better I assure you).
First, I lost a couple of my best friends over something as stupid as an election. In 2008, Obama ran against McCain, a senator from AZ. As many of you know, I supported (still do... to a lesser extent) Obama. Well some of these friends ended the friendship simply because they couldn't be friends with someone who didn't support McCain. I found their choice of wording interesting, it wasn't that I supported Obama, but that I didn't support McCain. Now folks, I have cousins who are my exact opposite in political terms. The only things they agree with the democrats on are the things I disagree with them on, etc. Now if politics is ever brought up on facebook or at a family get-together, we might get angry with one another, maybe even stop talking the rest of the night. But folks, at the end of the day, we realize we're still cousins. We may disagree, but we're family... it happens. So this one took me off guard.
Then came Amanda. Now those of you who know this story understand, but suffice it to say, the last few months did not go well, then when she returned to her home state of Arizona, what little was left fell apart. Granted we did try, but still. Now her best friend did suggest the idea of her return to AZ, and I know her family didn't really hate the idea, but is the distance and the people of AZ to blame? How about my assistant when I first started managing my store. He was an AZ native who wasn't exactly the greatest of assistants, but he wasn't god awful. We did find some common ground when his ex (also from that lovely state) destroyed his heart, so we used to joke about AZ women. How about the law that was recently declared unconstitutional that allowed law makers to pull over vehicles they believed had illegal immigrants... for no reason other than that belief.
Now that I've lost all the AZ readers, I do want to take this time to mention it is an alarming coincidence how many people have brought negativity to my life from that lovely state, but I in no way blame the state or its people. It's like the statistic that red cars are pulled over more often than other colors, that doesn't mean that red cars are unsafe. I bring this up so people realize that I might joke that Arizona is a source of much suffering, but I don't believe it. Which brings me to an interesting argument.
Recently, Arizona legislators have begun the process to pass a law that is now being referred to as the "turn away the gay" law. In essence, the law allows AZ business owners to refuse service to people who violate their religious beliefs. Now a discussion on freedom of religion or separation of church and state would take someone with much more time than me, so I'm not going to debate those points. I'm not going to debate the references to segregation and not allowing people of color to sit at the counter. I am going to discuss how appalling this is. Not the law, but how people have reacted to it.
Now let's get one thing straight, you all know I am in full support of equal rights for the LGBT community. So I want to make it clear that I find this law horrible... almost as horrible as the outcry against it. Now I see some people who are protesting it correctly. But there are others... I have some friends who yell out against the state and all its inhabitants. Now come on... how many of us agree with EVERY SINGLE law our state has passed, much less debated. Do not punish the whole state for something their legislators are doing. I am about to say something I've never before thought I'd say... George Takei, don't be a biggot. There are business owners in AZ who now face the issue of living in a state they don't agree with, but being boycotted by it. I run a convenience store with diesel fuel... in the home town of Winnebago. Every summer Winnebago holds a big event for the members of its club. How do you join? by simply owning a Winnebago RV. Needless to say Forest City gets incredibly busy as people from all over come to our tiny little town. Now... what if the Iowa government passed some horrible law and everyone boycotted our little state. We'd lose that, I'd lose that, and possibly my job. Even if I completely disagreed with the law.
Now I won't get in to the idea of representative politics, because no matter what, you'd still be punishing the business owner for the simple fact he lives in those borders. I understand your thoughts. I used to boycott Chik-fil-a because its CEO is not a decent person. But who am I harming? The poor college student working the grill on the weekends so he can afford to get his education and make the world better. The manager who's trying to run a successful business and take care of 3 kids because his wife up and left him for their marriage counselor. The cashier who's just found out she's pregnant and her husband just had a car accident, but she won't find that out until after work because cell phones are against company policy.
If you're in AZ, and you come across a business actually turning away gays, I urge you to leave and find somewhere else to go. Some businesses have even come up with a humorous, turn away the legislators spin on the law. But when you condemn the whole for the idiocy of some of its parts, even the majority, you are becoming worse than the idiots you fight against. Don't boycott the whole state, please. Arizona is as diverse as any other state, so please focus your attacks. I still have friends there who hate this law as much as you do. Don't hurt them, please.
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