They Hold Hands, Right?

So some states are trying to pass these laws to where the religious folk can deny service to gay couples. They seem to believe this is some kind of freedom of religion issue to them. I'm not sure when being an asshole became a matter of freedom of religion, but it seems it has. There are so many flaws with this kind of law, on so many levels. I think of of the main ones has to do with the assumptions and definition of what it means to be a 'gay couple.'

Unless two people are engaging in some kind of very obvious coupling activity, such as actively getting married or having sex while talking about buying new curtains, how can you really tell if two people ARE a couple? Will we assume that any two femme men who who happened to be somewhere together are a couple? This is hardly fair, given that a lot of gay men have gay men who are their friends. By 'friend' here, I mean someone you wouldn't have sex with. What if it is two Patrick Batemen type businessmen in suits who just happen to have lunch together? They aren't in a relationship with each other. They're both in relationships with themselves.

People always assume they know 'them gays' when they see them. They think the gay people would be anyone who doesn't look typically gendered towards straight. The thing is, there are lots of people who are gay who look just like all the straight people out there. They look as traditionally masculine or as traditionally feminine and no one is the wiser. If that is the case, it is possible that any two people of the same gender could be 'a couple.'

Which means . . . what for these laws? Will we no longer allow two moms to go buy a cake for a kid's birthday party? Will people frown when two male best friends show up  to watch a basketball game together? Will we not let two college best friends rent a hotel room for the night? Where will this kind of paranoia end?

How about this . . . if you have a business, how about you mind YOUR business about people's personal lives and treat them with dignity? It is less complicated than having to decide who the gay people might be. It also means you'll make more money.