- Republican presidential candidates, including John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, and Marco Rubio, have expressed support for attending gay weddings
- Discrimination against gay people is still legal in many states, with 31 states allowing for firing, eviction, or refusal of service based on sexual orientation
- Recent examples of discrimination include a Texas restaurant refusing service to a gay couple and a children's social services worker being fired for being gay
- Some states have passed laws preventing the extension of civil rights protections to gay people
- Federal protections for LGBT workers could be undone by the next president, and some Republican governors have weakened non-discrimination policies
- The argument against extending these protections is that it infringes on religious freedom, leading to the rise of religious freedom restoration acts

- Colorado baker Jack Phillips refuses to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples due to his religious beliefs
- He argues that providing a wedding cake for a gay couple goes against his definition of traditional marriage
- However, his argument is flawed as there are limits on religious freedom and free speech according to the Constitution
- The baker lost his case because Colorado has a law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation
- There is a need for nationwide anti-discrimination laws, such as the Equality Act, which currently lacks Republican support
- Only four presidential candidates responded positively to supporting laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
- It is long overdue for gay people to have the same rights as straight people and to not face discrimination.

This year’s gay marriage ruling was a milestone, but LGBT discrimination is still surprisingly legal. John Oliver explains why we need a federal anti-discrimination law.

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It's the reason that your grandparents' views are better not spoken in public.

Why did I bring you to straight out of Compton, Pop-Up?

In the recent Republican presidential debate, there was a genuinely encouraging sign because the subject of gay marriage came up, and presidential candidate John Kasich responded like this.

I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay.

Because somebody doesn't think the way I do, doesn't mean that I can't care about them or I can't love them.

A gay wedding just got applause at a Republican debate.

Add that to the list of things that would've been unthinkable in 2004, like the phrase, Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey.

Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, and Marco Rubio have all said they would attend a gay wedding if invited, which I can only imagine is terrible news for any of their gay acquaintances...

Who invited them only on the assumption that they would decline to attend and send a very expensive gift instead.

Well, I didn't think he would say yes, did I, Mark?

Now, which of your friends wants to sit with Bobby Jindal?

Although, look, not all of the candidates have been quite so clear.

Governor Scott Walker, for instance, had a much more squirrely response.

That's certainly a personal issue for a family member.

Tonette and I, our family, we've had a family member who's had a reception.

And that's true even though my position on marriage is still that it's defined between an abandoned woman.

But for someone I love, we've been at a reception.

How the hell did you respond on the RSVP card when it asked if you wanted chicken or fish?

Well, that's certainly a personal question.

For dinner, Tonette and I already had chicken.

It was at a restaurant, not our home, last week, I believe.

I still believe it is certainly a meal, which is my position.

Although, according to the menu, there is also maybe a vegetarian option, so to answer your question, I have eaten chicken in the past, yes.

While the idea of a gay wedding is increasingly widely accepted, it is worth noting that there are still a number of surprising ways to ruin a gay honeymoon.

Today, in most states, an LGBT person can get married on Saturday, post photos of their wedding on Sunday, and they get fired from their job or thrown out of their apartment on Monday just because of who they are.

The only possible reason you should be fired from your job after your wedding is if your theme was stolen office supplies.

But it is true that discriminating against gay people is surprisingly legal in much of the country.

The fact is, in 31 states, people are at risk of being fired, evicted, or refused service just because they're gay.

So while federal law may guarantee a gay couple's right to get married, it offers exactly 0 guarantees about their rights to do the things that normally follow that, like signing a lease on an apartment they can't afford, or conducting tense discussions about finances in the brightly lit tapas restaurant of their choosing, or marching into any bank and applying for a small business loan to get Brenda's stupid cupcakes-for-dogs idea off the ground.

Brenda, all cupcakes are cupcakes-for-dogs!

Which is just as well, because your cupcakes are terrible.

And look, if you are surprised by this, don't worry, you're not alone.

A 2013 poll showed that nearly 70% of people thought it was illegal under federal law for someone to be fired for being gay.

People believe it because it feels like it should be true.

Like thinking vertical stripes are flattering, or making your first condom purchase magnums.

And there are plenty of recent real-life examples of discrimination happening.

Just look at Colin Jubry and Kelly Williams, a Texas couple who made the mistake of visiting a restaurant called Big Earl's, where their waitress had something to say to them.

Here at Big Earl's, we like for men to act like men and for ladies to act like ladies.

Like, almost like she was reading a piece of paper.

That phrase is posted on the front door of the restaurant.

She's a young lady, didn't know what else to say.

And they finally, they just kept on, she finally said, and she said, we just don't like tags.

And also, someone might want to tell Big Earl that having a sign saying, where men act like men, is actually the single gayest thing imaginable.

So, look, that's an example of recent discrimination regarding public accommodation.

For discrimination in the workplace, take the case of Casey Stiegel, a gay man employed as a children's social services worker, also in Texas.

His fiancé showed up to help him 1 day because he was overseeing a field trip and wanted assistance.

And the next thing he knew, this happened.

Well, later in that week, I got a text message from the president of Children's Home saying I need to come meet with him, and then told me because of my lifestyle choices, he didn't feel comfortable having me on his team anymore.

For the record, being gay is clearly not a lifestyle choice.

A lifestyle choice is when a man gets obnoxiously into jazz, or goes on an Atkins diet and starts a food blog called Protein Wolf.

Both of which you should actually be fired for, but that's not what we're talking about here tonight.

The fact is, this kind of discrimination can have ripple effects.

Like when this Michigan couple had their pediatrician refuse to treat their baby just because they were lesbians.

We're not your patient, she's your patient.

And the fact that you can't, your job is to keep babies healthy, and you can't keep a baby healthy that has gay parents?

But to be fair, no 1 can keep any baby healthy, regardless of the parents.

They're going to get sick, and they're going to make you sick.

But it is amazing that any of those stories are taking place in this day and age.

And I'm not saying that this is the case everywhere.

Some states and cities do have good protections.

And I suppose we could wait for every state to catch up.

But there are certain issues too important to be left to the states, specifically, civil rights and state birds.

You chose the scissor-tailed flycatcher, Oklahoma?

How do you not go with the eastern phoebe?

That bird is a pure-winged majesty, but you went and chose a piece of garbage with a beak?

It looks like it fell out of Miranda July's hair.

-♪ ♪ -♪ Anyway, the point is, states have a checkered history when it comes to civil rights.

Not only do they not have any anti-discrimination ordinances, earlier this year, they actually passed an anti-anti-discrimination ordinance that prevents any city or county from extending civil rights protections to gay people.

Here is a sponsor of that law explaining why.

I want to be treated equal just like I want someone from the LBGT community to be treated equal.

I want to be fair to them and I want to be fair to them and I want to be fair to me.

They shouldn't get more rights than I do and I shouldn't get more rights than them.

We're not creating lesbians-only sections on airplanes or putting up signs at 6 Flags saying, you must be this gay to go on this ride." This is...

Now, there have been some positive moves at the federal level.

Just last month, the EEOC ruled the Civil Rights Act applies to LGB workers, and a year ago, the president added LGBT protections for federal contractors, all of which is great.

But, those protections could be undone by his successor.

And it's worth noting, 2 of the Republican governors running for president actually weakened their state's non-discrimination policies.

Bobby Jindal let an executive order expire, and John Kasich kept his, but removed the protections for transgender workers for some reason.

And it must be strange to live in a state and see progress actually move backwards.

It'd be like if Apple suddenly introduced the iPhone 7 and it was a flip phone.

Now, sure, that's still not as dumb as the Apple Watch, but it's dumb.

Now, the main argument against extending these protections is that it might infringe on religious freedom, forcing people to act against their religious beliefs.

Hence the rise of religious freedom restoration acts around the country.

And religious freedom is not an inherently bad thing.

And I'm not just saying that, because I'm the current mega-reverend of Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption.

We allow for religious freedom in limited, sensible ways all the time.

It's why Muslims can wear a hijab in their driver's license photo and why devout Christians can't be forced to work on the Sabbath.

But there are reasonable limits to it, and we've all heard it mistakenly cited in stories like this.

Colorado baker Jack Phillips estimates he's made 5,000 wedding cakes since he opened his shop Masterpiece Cakes 20 years ago.

A deeply religious man, Jack Phillips says he'll bake birthday cakes, cupcakes, and a variety of other sweets for same-sex couples, just not a wedding cake.

I actually feel like I'm taking part in the wedding.

I have a horrifying sense what that might mean.

-♪♪♪♪ -♪♪♪♪ -♪♪♪♪ -♪♪♪♪ -♪♪♪♪ -♪♪♪♪ That baker denied service to a gay couple in 2012, citing his belief that providing them with a wedding cake would offend his definition of traditional marriage.

But that's a little hard to square with the fact that he allegedly had no problem providing a cake for a wedding between 2 dogs.

And look, those dogs may lick their own balls, but I'm sure even they are now regretting ordering a vanilla cum cake from the ejaculating baker of Colorado.

♪ But the bigger flaw in his argument is his understanding of how the law works.

The Constitution guarantees me the right to, practice my faith, my religion, anywhere, anytime.

It also gives me the right to free speech, anytime, anywhere.

Courts have already decided there are limits on religious freedom.

For example, they found that you can't discriminate on race based on your religious beliefs.

You can't yell, fire, in a crowded theater.

The Constitution isn't the star in Super Mario Brothers.

It doesn't make you invincible so you can just do whatever the fuck you want.

Now, just so you know, that baker lost his case because Colorado happens to be 1 of the states that has a law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.

And when states have those laws, even states with religious freedom acts, cases do now tend to go gay people's way, which is good.

The problem is, there are still way too many states that don't have anti-discrimination laws at all.

So maybe it's time we just fix all of this nationwide in 1 go.

And interestingly, there is something called the Equality Act in Congress right now, which adds LGBT protections to the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, and several others.

It has over 200 co-sponsors in the House and Senate.

Unfortunately, precisely 0 of them are Republican, which is genuinely difficult to do.

For instance, there's an actual bill that just designated September the 25th as National Lobster Day.

And look, I'm not saying lobsters don't deserve recognition from our government, because they absolutely do.

The point is, this bill represents the bare minimum of not being discriminated against.

And this should be what represents the threshold of true gay tolerance.

Not whether or not you would consider attending a gay wedding.

So we actually reached out to every single presidential candidate from both parties and asked them, would you support passage of a federal law or laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, specifically in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, and access to credit.

It's a long question, yes, but it's not a complicated 1.

Lincoln, Chafee, and Martin O'Malley said yes, they would.

But to be honest, I think they were just happy anyone had asked them anything.

Bernie Sanders also said he would, and a spokesman for Rand Paul said, and this is true, -"We'll pass, thanks." -$30,000 Okay.

Everyone else is presumably still thinking about it.

We reached out on Thursday, and it should not take that long to work out the answer to, should gay people be discriminated against, is just, no, that's it.

Because it is long past time that gay people have the same rights that straight people have.

Namely, to be fired because they're being replaced by a computer, to be denied service at a restaurant because they're neither wealthy-looking nor attractive, and more specifically, to have a wedding cake but not eat it because they suspect a strange man may, for some reason, have ejaculated into it.


Speaker 0: -♪ ♪ -♪♪ Progress. It's the reason that your grandparents' views are better not spoken in public. Why did I bring you to straight out of Compton, Pop-Up? This is... This is partly on me.

In the recent Republican presidential debate, there was a genuinely encouraging sign because the subject of gay marriage came up, and presidential candidate John Kasich responded like this.

Speaker 1: Guess what? I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay. Because somebody doesn't think the way I do, doesn't mean that I can't care about them or I can't love them.

Speaker 0: Wow. A gay wedding just got applause at a Republican debate. Add that to the list of things that would've been unthinkable in 2004, like the phrase, Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey. People would have said, you were insane. And look, it's not just Kasich.

Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, and Marco Rubio have all said they would attend a gay wedding if invited, which I can only imagine is terrible news for any of their gay acquaintances... Who invited them only on the assumption that they would decline to attend and send a very expensive gift instead. Well, I didn't think he would say yes, did I, Mark? Now, which of your friends wants to sit with Bobby Jindal? Yes, your friends are like my friends!

Although, look, not all of the candidates have been quite so clear. Governor Scott Walker, for instance, had a much more squirrely response.

Speaker 2: Would you attend a gay wedding?

Speaker 3: Well, in terms of... That's certainly a personal issue for a family member. Tonette and I, our family, we've had a family member who's had a reception. I haven't been at a wedding, but 1. And that's true even though my position on marriage is still that it's defined between an abandoned woman.

I support the constitution of the state. But for someone I love, we've been at a reception.

Speaker 0: What? It's... It's a yes or no question. How the hell did you respond on the RSVP card when it asked if you wanted chicken or fish? Well, that's certainly a personal question.

For dinner, Tonette and I already had chicken. It was at a restaurant, not our home, last week, I believe. I haven't had fish recently, though. I still believe it is certainly a meal, which is my position. Although, according to the menu, there is also maybe a vegetarian option, so to answer your question, I have eaten chicken in the past, yes.

Yes. But, look, look. While the idea of a gay wedding is increasingly widely accepted, it is worth noting that there are still a number of surprising ways to ruin a gay honeymoon.

Speaker 4: Today, in most states, an LGBT person can get married on Saturday, post photos of their wedding on Sunday, and they get fired from their job or thrown out of their apartment on Monday just because of who they are.

Speaker 0: Okay, that's clearly terrible. The only possible reason you should be fired from your job after your wedding is if your theme was stolen office supplies. That's the only logical reason. But it is true that discriminating against gay people is surprisingly legal in much of the country. The fact is, in 31 states, people are at risk of being fired, evicted, or refused service just because they're gay.

So while federal law may guarantee a gay couple's right to get married, it offers exactly 0 guarantees about their rights to do the things that normally follow that, like signing a lease on an apartment they can't afford, or conducting tense discussions about finances in the brightly lit tapas restaurant of their choosing, or marching into any bank and applying for a small business loan to get Brenda's stupid cupcakes-for-dogs idea off the ground. Brenda, all cupcakes are cupcakes-for-dogs! They eat their own shits, Brenda! Which is just as well, because your cupcakes are terrible. They're terrible, B.

-... And look, if you are surprised by this, don't worry, you're not alone. A 2013 poll showed that nearly 70% of people thought it was illegal under federal law for someone to be fired for being gay. People believe it because it feels like it should be true. It's optimistic, but wrong.

Like thinking vertical stripes are flattering, or making your first condom purchase magnums. Optimistic, but statistically wrong. And there are plenty of recent real-life examples of discrimination happening. Just look at Colin Jubry and Kelly Williams, a Texas couple who made the mistake of visiting a restaurant called Big Earl's, where their waitress had something to say to them.

Speaker 5: She said that we don't serve, can I say? Fags here. We don't serve fags here.

Speaker 6: Then the waitress continued, they say...

Speaker 5: Here at Big Earl's, we like for men to act like men and for ladies to act like ladies. And it was just so nonchalantly. Like, almost like she was reading a piece of paper.

Speaker 6: Well, she was. That phrase is posted on the front door of the restaurant.

Speaker 7: She's a young lady, didn't know what else to say. And they finally, they just kept on, she finally said, and she said, we just don't like tags.

Speaker 0: Okay. That is obviously appalling. And also, someone might want to tell Big Earl that having a sign saying, where men act like men, is actually the single gayest thing imaginable. So, look, that's an example of recent discrimination regarding public accommodation. For discrimination in the workplace, take the case of Casey Stiegel, a gay man employed as a children's social services worker, also in Texas.

His fiancé showed up to help him 1 day because he was overseeing a field trip and wanted assistance. And the next thing he knew, this happened.

Speaker 8: Well, later in that week, I got a text message from the president of Children's Home saying I need to come meet with him, and then told me because of my lifestyle choices, he didn't feel comfortable having me on his team anymore.

Speaker 0: For the record, being gay is clearly not a lifestyle choice. A lifestyle choice is when a man gets obnoxiously into jazz, or goes on an Atkins diet and starts a food blog called Protein Wolf. -$1.5 million. -$1.5 million. Both of which you should actually be fired for, but that's not what we're talking about here tonight.

The fact is, this kind of discrimination can have ripple effects. Like when this Michigan couple had their pediatrician refuse to treat their baby just because they were lesbians. Which, as they point out, is crazy.

Speaker 9: We're not your patient, she's your patient. And the fact that you can't, your job is to keep babies healthy, and you can't keep a baby healthy that has gay parents?

Speaker 0: Exactly. But to be fair, no 1 can keep any baby healthy, regardless of the parents. Babies are fleshy bacteria magnets. They're basically vomit volcanoes. They're going to get sick, and they're going to make you sick.

That's just a fact. But it is amazing that any of those stories are taking place in this day and age. And I'm not saying that this is the case everywhere. Some states and cities do have good protections. And I suppose we could wait for every state to catch up.

But there are certain issues too important to be left to the states, specifically, civil rights and state birds. You chose the scissor-tailed flycatcher, Oklahoma? Are you fucking kidding me? How do you not go with the eastern phoebe? That bird is a pure-winged majesty, but you went and chose a piece of garbage with a beak?

It looks like it fell out of Miranda July's hair. That's a shit bird, Oklahoma! Shame on you! You're on the wrong side of history! -♪ ♪ -♪ Anyway, the point is, states have a checkered history when it comes to civil rights.

Just look at Arkansas right now. Not only do they not have any anti-discrimination ordinances, earlier this year, they actually passed an anti-anti-discrimination ordinance that prevents any city or county from extending civil rights protections to gay people. Here is a sponsor of that law explaining why.

Speaker 6: I want to be treated equal just like I want someone from the LBGT community to be treated equal. I want to be fair to them and I want to be fair to them and I want to be fair to me. They shouldn't get more rights than I do and I shouldn't get more rights than them.

Speaker 0: What are you talking about? This is not about special rights. We're not creating lesbians-only sections on airplanes or putting up signs at 6 Flags saying, you must be this gay to go on this ride." This is... Just basic equality. That's all it is.

Now, there have been some positive moves at the federal level. Just last month, the EEOC ruled the Civil Rights Act applies to LGB workers, and a year ago, the president added LGBT protections for federal contractors, all of which is great. But, those protections could be undone by his successor. And it's worth noting, 2 of the Republican governors running for president actually weakened their state's non-discrimination policies. Bobby Jindal let an executive order expire, and John Kasich kept his, but removed the protections for transgender workers for some reason.

And it must be strange to live in a state and see progress actually move backwards. It'd be like if Apple suddenly introduced the iPhone 7 and it was a flip phone. Now, sure, that's still not as dumb as the Apple Watch, but it's dumb. Not that dumb, but dumb. Now, the main argument against extending these protections is that it might infringe on religious freedom, forcing people to act against their religious beliefs.

Hence the rise of religious freedom restoration acts around the country. And religious freedom is not an inherently bad thing. And I'm not just saying that, because I'm the current mega-reverend of Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption. Yeah. Praise be.

Praise be. Praise be unto you. This is not about me. We allow for religious freedom in limited, sensible ways all the time. It's why Muslims can wear a hijab in their driver's license photo and why devout Christians can't be forced to work on the Sabbath.

But there are reasonable limits to it, and we've all heard it mistakenly cited in stories like this.

Speaker 10: Colorado baker Jack Phillips estimates he's made 5,000 wedding cakes since he opened his shop Masterpiece Cakes 20 years ago. A deeply religious man, Jack Phillips says he'll bake birthday cakes, cupcakes, and a variety of other sweets for same-sex couples, just not a wedding cake.

Speaker 2: I actually feel like I'm taking part in the wedding. Part of me goes to the reception.

Speaker 0: Part of you goes to the reception? I have a horrifying sense what that might mean. In a way, I've been married 5,000 times. In another way, I come in the cake. -♪♪♪♪ -♪♪♪♪ -♪♪♪♪ -♪♪♪♪ -♪♪♪♪ -♪♪♪♪ That baker denied service to a gay couple in 2012, citing his belief that providing them with a wedding cake would offend his definition of traditional marriage.

But that's a little hard to square with the fact that he allegedly had no problem providing a cake for a wedding between 2 dogs. And look, those dogs may lick their own balls, but I'm sure even they are now regretting ordering a vanilla cum cake from the ejaculating baker of Colorado. -♪ Oh, yeah... ♪ -♪ Oh, yeah... ♪ But the bigger flaw in his argument is his understanding of how the law works.

Speaker 2: The Constitution guarantees me the right to, practice my faith, my religion, anywhere, anytime. There are no restrictions on that. It also gives me the right to free speech, anytime, anywhere.

Speaker 0: Except it doesn't, though. Courts have already decided there are limits on religious freedom. For example, they found that you can't discriminate on race based on your religious beliefs. And there are limits on free speech. You can't yell, fire, in a crowded theater.

The Constitution isn't the star in Super Mario Brothers. It doesn't make you invincible so you can just do whatever the fuck you want. Now, just so you know, that baker lost his case because Colorado happens to be 1 of the states that has a law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. And when states have those laws, even states with religious freedom acts, cases do now tend to go gay people's way, which is good. The problem is, there are still way too many states that don't have anti-discrimination laws at all.

So maybe it's time we just fix all of this nationwide in 1 go. And interestingly, there is something called the Equality Act in Congress right now, which adds LGBT protections to the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, and several others. It has over 200 co-sponsors in the House and Senate. Unfortunately, precisely 0 of them are Republican, which is genuinely difficult to do. For instance, there's an actual bill that just designated September the 25th as National Lobster Day.

Even that had 2 Republican co-sponsors. And look, I'm not saying lobsters don't deserve recognition from our government, because they absolutely do. Although, do they? That's not the point, though. That's not the point.

The point is, this bill represents the bare minimum of not being discriminated against. And this should be what represents the threshold of true gay tolerance. Not whether or not you would consider attending a gay wedding. So we actually reached out to every single presidential candidate from both parties and asked them, would you support passage of a federal law or laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, specifically in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, and access to credit. It's not a complicated question.

It's a long question, yes, but it's not a complicated 1. But only 4 campaigns got back to us. Lincoln, Chafee, and Martin O'Malley said yes, they would. But to be honest, I think they were just happy anyone had asked them anything. So, discount that.

Bernie Sanders also said he would, and a spokesman for Rand Paul said, and this is true, -"We'll pass, thanks." -$30,000 Okay. You're welcome. Everyone else is presumably still thinking about it. But why? We reached out on Thursday, and it should not take that long to work out the answer to, should gay people be discriminated against, is just, no, that's it.

Because it is long past time that gay people have the same rights that straight people have. Namely, to be fired because they're being replaced by a computer, to be denied service at a restaurant because they're neither wealthy-looking nor attractive, and more specifically, to have a wedding cake but not eat it because they suspect a strange man may, for some reason, have ejaculated into it.

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LGBT Discrimination: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)