Here's more of that slippery slope analysts have been talking about in the wake of the Supreme Court's
Hobby Lobby decision. If you can now legally discriminate against women in the workplace, Kansas religious conservatives are thinking, you can
legally discriminate against the gays.
The Associated Press reported this weekend that social conservatives believe they have an opening to bring the state's religious freedom bill back in 2015. The legislation failed this spring; it passed the House, but stalled in the Senate after significant backlash from business groups. It would have prevented businesses from being sued if they refused to serve LGBT people for religious reasons.
"We are not going to let it die. We are very committed," Rev. Terry Fox, a leading Southern Baptist minister, told the AP. "The Body of Christ is a powerful movement when it comes together." […]
"The opinion really doesn't really resolve the question of whether for-profit businesses can seek religious exemptions from anti-discrimination law," Douglas NeJaime, a law professor at the University of California-Irvine, told TPM. "If I'm one of those groups, I'm going to pursue this."
Kansas surely won't be the only place this fight crops up again. (Looking at you, Arizona.) In this case, though, gay rights activists believe they've got Kennedy on their side for any litigation that could reach the high court. But because of continued opposition by business groups in the states, the efforts can probably be beat back at the state level.
Nevertheless, the Roberts Five on the Supreme Court have given the green light to zealots to claim legal justification for spreading their hate.