A Freedom Referendum in Miami

If the BBC is believed, south Florida is about to unleash a pogrom against homosexuals.

"Rights of Miami’s gays under threat," the headline warns. "[I]n September this year, the residents of Miami-Dade county will go to the polls to decide whether to abolish certain human rights for homosexuals."

Will they be voting on whether to expel or imprison homosexuals in Miami-Dade? Nope.

Will they be voting on whether to ban homosexual clubs or media? Nope.

Will they be voting on whether to ban homosexuals from being county employees? Nope.

The September 10 vote will be on whether to repeal a "gay rights" ordinance enacted in 1998 by the Board of Miami-Dade County Commissioners (7–6 vote). The ordinance criminalizes discrimination in housing and employment on the basis of sexual orientation.

The BBC comments on the consequences if Miami-Dade residents repeal the ordinance: "A company could choose [emphasis added] not to hire people on the grounds of sexual orientation, a landlord would not have to rent to someone he thinks may be gay and insurance companies can refuse to insure."

That is, Miami-Dade proprietors will be free to dispose of their property as they see fit. (Well, not quite. Miami-Dade also criminalizes racial and other discrimination, so it’s more accurate to say that municipal oppression of proprietors will be diminished.)

Supporters and opponents of the referendum defy expectations. The pro-repeal group Take Back Miami-Dade County includes black religious leaders from the African-American Council of Christian Clergy (AACCC) and People United to Lead the Struggle for Equality (PULSE). (This isn’t to say that AACCC and PULSE also oppose Miami-Dade’s prohibition of racial discrimination. In fact, I bet my copy of For a New Liberty that they’d fight tooth and nail against repealing this category.)

Opponents of repeal include Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and talk-show host Cristina Saralegui. Given their personal and physical proximity to totalitarianism – all fled Cuba during childhood – it’s odd that they defend a policy which violates freedom of contract and association. (The ordinance also violates religious freedom since a devout proprietor can’t refuse to hire homosexuals on religious grounds.)

Central to anti-discrimination laws is a criminal arrogance. When X says Y can’t refuse to hire him or rent to him, X also says he has a right to make Y associate with him.

That’s not a right. That’s violence.

Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas claims that supporters of repeal seek to revive "an era of intolerance." No, intolerance is the status quo where Miami-Dade forces proprietors to associate with individuals they consider objectionable. (The soundness or stupidity of reasons for non-association isn’t relevant. Ownership means not having to justify your rights.)

Homosexual writer Justin Raimondo observes:

The gay activists of yesteryear demanded that government get out of the bedroom. Today a new generation of gay leaders is inviting government back in…From an essentially libertarian movement, which sought to minimize the power of government in the sexual realm, gay organizations and leading spokespersons are today calling for the expansion of state power over nearly every aspect of our lives.

A victory for repeal on September 10 won’t abolish Miami-Dade’s anti-discrimination aggression, but it’s a good start. Citizens of Miami-Dade, give freedom some momentum!

September 3, 2002

Myles Kantor [send him mail] is a columnist for FrontPageMagazine.com and president of the Center for Free Emigration, which agrees with Frederick Douglass that "It is a fundamental truth that every man is the rightful owner of his own body."

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