Department of Public Works employee Eric Batman claims that having to see a Progress Pride flag flying outside the department’s Alhambra, California, headquarters during the month of June effectively forces him to “celebrate, recognize, and solemnize conduct and actions that he views as sin” in conflict with his sincerely held Christian religious beliefs, according to a lawsuit filed in March by anti-LGBTQ+ evangelical nonprofit the Liberty Counsel.
Would be fun to see this lawsuit succeeding.
The Satanic Temple would have a field day suing everything christian by this precedent.
A satanist could even argue it causes them physical harm to be subjected to “holy” imagery against their will, if the scriptures are to be believed.
I see confederate flags round here all the time and I don’t feel forced to celebrate the confederacy… idiot.
It’s important to see both sides of any argument. The winning side, and the losing side.
Well … you don’t see Nazi flags in Germany today but you can see them in USA. “Freedom to be idiot” is a great thing.
this guy does not deserve his last name
He’s the opposite of Batman
Manbat?
Oppressing people for money sounds a lot like Batman. I guess he’s not beating up the people he steals from yet.
Christians like this are SO addicted to seeing themselves as victims.
Well the alternative is that they would have to help the poor and generally be a good member of society and that’s too much like hard work so it’s much easier to claim that they are the victim.
“What kind of librul propaganda is helping the poor, I’m a good Christian!”
There is a certain strain of Christianity that must see itself as the underdog in a cosmic war of good and evil. Everything fits into that overarching narrative.
Can I sue for Christmas?
Santa died on the cross for your sins
Santa was beat to death at a Walmart Black Friday sale trying to grab a 38" flatscreen.
Sounds like he is very, VERY gay.
That has to be it, right?
If seeing a piece of cloth is so triggering, then maybe that’s an indicator of a much more deep-rooted problem.
The “Christian men” who protest gay rights the loudest are usually the ones who wind up in the headlines when they get caught soliciting male prostitutes at rest areas.
He’s definitely a repressed gay then
Stop blaming Christian fundamentalist fascism on gay people.
Making this claim only results in covertly blaming gay people for their own oppression. There are far more non-queer bigots than there are self-hating queer people, and this joke needs to be retired.
There are far more non-queer bigots than there are self-hating queer people
How did you reach this conclusion?
I think you probably just made that up.
Someone’s never lived in a small town. Where the hell are you getting the notion homophobia is mostly self-hating queers, a terminally online community?
I hear you, and you may indeed be correct, but in a surprisingly large number of cases the more homophobic someone is; the more likely they are deeply closeted themselves. There are a number of documented occasions on which a conservative convention in a given area coincides with a huge spike or even a crash of gay dating apps
Fucking snowflakes
Everyone has so many theories about this guy’s motivations. I think it’s just capitalism manifest. This guy sees a way to make a buck litigating. Welcome to America.
So can all his coworkers sue them because they have to look at this bigoted piece of shit every day?
Has he considered reading the Bible and following the teachings of Jesus Christ? It might help him understand what Christianity is supposed to be about.
Do you really think they are reading their book?
Also which one? They’ll pick the one that most fits what they want.
If they are reading anything but the new testament then it is just a history lesson.
Which translation, which interpretation? It’s hard to say the New Testament is a single work with just one commonly understood message.
It might help him understand what Christianity is supposed to be about.
Don’t bother. Satan will claim his own soon enough. In the meantime, resist.
But Jesus it too woke and gay for Reighwing Christians
effectively forces him to “celebrate, recognize, and solemnize conduct and actions that he views as sin”
Well then it’s a good thing that, "sin” as a purely theological term, has no meaning to the US government. Right?
Cue the 6 SCOTUS fucks busting through the wall like the koolaid man to make sinning illegal in their quest to turn the US into a christofascist theocracy
How much do you want to bet that this guy has been on the internet calling people snowflakes unironically?
I know I’m probably bucking the hive mind here, but I would actually support legislation that government owned building can fly only city, state, and country flags. I’m completely in on making sure that government policies are inclusive and protective of those needing them, but flags just seem performative. In fact, they could be counter productive; flying them “in support” while policies do not.
Agreed. Plus a legal precedent in favor of pride flags, could cut the other way. On principle, I don’t want to see hateful sentiment yield a legal victory. In practice, disallowing this kind of expression in government facilities would/should keep MAGA flags and other nonsense far from the same flagpoles. Or at the very least, it could be argued so in a second court case.
I come to Lemmus for exchanges like this. Well reasoned, level headed, and consequences considered. Imagine if we could get conversations like this to take place in those government buildings- sure would be swell.
Thank you. Be the change you want to see in the world, right?
Yeah. I generally don’t have an objection to pride flags but I could definitely see somebody stretching the same arguments to have a Confederate or MAGA flag (or just Trump’s face as he’s so fond of putting it on fucking everything)
Considering that Georgia used to have the stars-and-bars on their state flag, I’m 100% certain it would get used this way.
Why should the law treat these things as the same though? If the law is blind to bigotry then that’s a larger problem.
Why should the law treat these things as the same though?
Good question. I think that the law is going to see a flag on a government flagpole from a “does this represent part of the government or not?” standpoint. In that context, the message the flag sends is irrelevant. In this, and possibly many other cases, it represents a third party that is getting notoriety and support from a government facility. Maybe it’s okay if its declared as an official act by someone that has the power to do so, but then it probably won’t be a one-off like the flag in the article.
In truth I freaking love that people put a pride flag in such a prominent place. It represents values that align with basic human dignity and are harmless to everyone. I’m just concerned that it’s going to open up a whole can of worms that might make things worse. Then again, things are already pretty bad so clever tactics that exploit loopholes are warranted.
If the law is blind to bigotry then that’s a larger problem.
The de-facto environment out there is increasingly so. It is indeed a massive fucking problem.
Which cities, states and countries can a building fly? Only their own? Could a federal building raise a flag for another nation in solidarity, even if support for said nation is polarizing? Flags are performative, but knowing what is allowed to be performed can be a good indicator for marginalized groups to know where they might be okay living, even if policies are quite there yet.
In my world, no. A government building flys the flags associated with it. While it’s easy to be on the side of a federal building flying the flag of Ukraine, or one state flying the flag of another going through a tragic event, supporting that would also allow government buildings to fly the Israeli flag, or the confederate flag or a MAGA flag. You don’t think that confederate sympathizers in the south would claim to be marginalized and the confederate flag flying at the Mississippi statehouse would make them feel welcome? It’s a knife that cuts both ways.
I want marginalized people to feel welcome in their communities, but I don’t believe the flagpole of a government building is where to do it. The floor of the government building is.
That’s fair. I appreciate the consistency in your view. My follow up would be if, in that world, embassies would be exempt from that rule. Seems like a potential gray area.
