Here in Nebraska LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) issues have been in the news quite a bit recently.  Last week a jury in Omaha found a man guilty of a hate crime because he punched a marine who was trying to usher two gay friends safely out of a bar.  And UNL has announced that it is planning to provide “gender-inclusive” dorm rooms for transgender students.
Nebraska is considered one of the more hostile states to the LGBT community.  In 2000 Nebraska voters passed one of the most restrictive bans in the country, not only banning gays from marrying but also denying them any form of legally-recognized family status.
This isn’t particularly surprising.  Nebraska is a highly conservative state, and most conservatives consider homosexuality a sin.  Our newly elected governor, Pete Ricketts, opposes gay marriage even though his sister is a lesbian, and conservative business groups, like the Omaha and Lincoln Chambers of Commerce, have stood staunchly against extending legal protections to people in the LGBT community.
That’s starting to change, though.  These and other groups are now realizing that Nebraska’s hostility towards gays is costing our state money.  Quality workers aren’t moving to (or staying in) states like Nebraska that still allow job discrimination based on sexual orientation.  This leaves Nebraska at a competitive disadvantage and business leaders are taking notice.  According to the chairman of the Omaha Chamber of Commerce, “Talented employees want to work in an environment that is open, welcoming and nondiscriminatory.”
And so our Legislature is considering prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  Yet only a day after a bill banning this discrimination advanced to the floor it appeared headed back to committee.  Last year a similar bill fell to a filibuster and this year religious groups are demanding an exemption.
Another recent bill would have allowed the same-sex spouse of a nonresident military member to apply for a concealed weapons permit.  But it has been withdrawn in part out of fear it could be construed as supporting gay marriage.  Prior to its withdrawal, though, 37 state senators had supported it.
Editorial writers and business leaders are praising efforts to attract quality employees by banning discrimination.  And everyone seems to think selling guns to gays is a good idea.  Nebraska’s intolerance of the LGBT community appears to be lessening and only our religious leaders seem to be seriously objecting.
Yet prohibiting workplace discrimination and extending concealed carrying rights to satisfy the business and gun lobbies while still prohibiting gay marriage is morally inconsistent.  Nowhere have I read that banning discrimination and extending gun rights to gays is simply the right thing to do in a country that boasts of equality for all.  It appears that in Nebraska prohibiting discrimination is acceptable only when money can be made or it gets more guns on the street.
It’s been said that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of the small mind” and I’m sure there are many people who see no problem extending rights piecemeal to the LGBT community when it suits their own financial interests.  But public policy does need to be consistent – otherwise equality and justice become impossible.  The concept of justice stands in stark contrast to the concept that “might makes right,” whether that “might” is physical violence or self-serving discrimination by the majority.
Regardless of where one stands on LGBT issues, we should all be alarmed when civil rights are extended and withheld to benefit special interests.  Such actions only affirm the worst perceptions of our political system and one way or another threaten the rights of us all.