Discrimination is just a negatively-connoted version of the word "choice." It's completely subject to the individual. People should be able to choose to do and not do whatever they want, so long as they aren't hurting anyone. A law against sexual or racial discrimination, whether it applies to employee hiring or customer service, is problematic for a few basic reasons.

First, in many cases, it's prosecuting thought crime. If I own a restaurant and I don't admit a customer, it could be for a number of reasons. He could be blackballed by the local restaurants as someone who walks out without paying his bill. He could be against the stated dress code. He could just be a guy I don't like. But if he is black or Hispanic or whatever, it doesn't matter what the real reason is, I'm not letting him in because he's a minority, end of discussion. If I'm an employer and I turn down a female applicant or fire a female employee, again, it could be for any number of legitimate reasons, but laws attempt to assume what my real reasons are.

Second, even if you know for sure that someone is discriminating solely based on race or sex, it is wrong and in fact hurtful to society to have a law against that behavior.


Two funny stories about bakeries:

1) A bakery in Oregon was in the news a few months ago because they refused to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, saying it was against their Christian beliefs. This was in violation of laws, and they're now facing a $150,000 fine that probably will bankrupt them.

2) A bakery in Colorado has was requested by a customer to make a cake with a picture of two guys holding hands and an 'X' over it. They refused to bake this cake, and now are being sued by the customer for discrimination. And the case actually has legs.


I think one of the most grotesque things about law as it applies to businesses, especially those which serve walk-in customers directly, is that they're considered by the legal code to be "public places," a term which makes my skin crawl. I own a restaurant, barbershop, whatever, I pay the bills every month, the property tax, the maintenance and upkeep, but it's a public place that I don't have full control and ownership of. I don't even have the full autonomy to choose my staff, or to choose to let them go when they're not productive enough to keep.

It's very telling actually about the underlying state of things. In reality, there is no ownership, no automony, and restricted choice. We just lease everything we have from the state. If we do anything that goes against the state's arbitrarily-manufactured morality, we forfeit all privileges to participate.