Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Marco Rubio, in the midst of his run for president as candidate of the youth and the future, has a sad (and kind of an angry and a scared) that opposing the right of people in a loving, consensual relationship to legally marry is
not a universally popular thing to do:
“We are at the water’s edge of the argument that mainstream Christian teaching is hate speech because today we’ve reached the point in our society where if you do not support same-sex marriage, you are labeled a homophobe and a hater,” Rubio said. “So what’s the next step after that? After they’re done going after individuals, the next step is to argue that the teachings of mainstream Christianity, the catechism of the Catholic Church, is hate speech. That’s a real and present danger.”
Well, yeah, if you don't think LGBT people deserve the same rights as you, that's homophobia. It's not real complicated.
But, man, what is with Republicans and their confusion between individuals and institutions. Corporations are people, my friend, so we better give them the political rights of people, and now individuals are practically the same as churches, so we better give every florist and pizza shop owner the same right to discriminate as major religious denominations, or else it's a sign that jackbooted liberal thugs will be coming for your Bible.
The Republican victim mentality, the view that it's cruel and unfair for any conservative to ever face consequences for doing exactly what they want to do at all times, is staggering. If you're their kind of person, the thinking goes, you should be allowed to discriminate, to insult, to break the law—and even facing mild social condemnation in response is an outrageous violation of your rights. Rubio is clearly betting that playing to that victim mentality is a good way to get votes, and he's probably not wrong.