Thursday, May 31, 2007

Pitch a fit, call it a civil-rights action

Pity poor Linda Carlson of San Francisco. She can't find lesbian love in the nation's gayest city, and it's all the fault of eHarmony, the online matchmaking service.

See, eHarmony, founded by an evangelical Christian, doesn't do the homosexual-dating thing. And, objectively, who the heck cares? If you turn to the classifieds of most any alternative weekly, you'll find an ad (or ads) for gay datelines, etc., etc.

I can only imagine the smorgasbord of such advertised in the gay press.


SO, IF A COMPANY chooses not to enter the men-seeking-men or women-seeking-women market, so what?

Well, it turns out a lot what when the Gaymacht is on its long march through American culture. Resistance is futile and all that.

MSNBC features
a dispatch from the front lines by an intrepid Reuters war correspondent:

Lawyers bringing the action said they believed it was the first lawsuit of its kind against eHarmony, which has long rankled the gay community with its failure to offer a “men seeking men” or “women seeking women” option.

They were seeking to make it a class action lawsuit on behalf of gays and lesbians denied access to the dating service.

eHarmony was founded in 2000 by evangelical Christian Dr. Neil Clark Warren and had strong early ties with the influential religious conservative group Focus on the Family.

It has more than 12 million registered users, and heavy television advertising has made it one of the nation’s biggest Internet dating sites.

Carlson, who lives in the San Francisco Bay area, tried to use the site’s dating services in February 2007. When she was denied access, she wrote to eHarmony explaining its anti-gay policy was discriminatory under California law but the company refused to change it, according to the lawsuit.

“Such outright discrimination is hurtful and disappointing for a business open to the public in this day and age,” she said.

eHarmony could not immediately be reached for comment. Commenting in the past on eHarmony’s gay and lesbian policy, Warren has said that he does not know the dynamics of same-sex relationships but he expects the principles to be different.

“This lawsuit is about changing the landscape and making a statement out there that gay people, just like heterosexuals, have the right and desire to meet other people with whom they can fall in love,” said Carlson lawyer Todd Schneider.
ONE QUICKLY LEARNS, when facing any fascist movement, there's absolutely no room for right of conscience -- or patience for those who claim such.

So, it matters not one whit whether eHarmony is steering clear of helping homosexuals hook up on sacred grounds or merely commercial ones. Gays demand not toleration -- which, by any benchmark, they have achieved in American society -- so much as every single American's blessing. Compelled by force of law, if need be.

It's as if we live in a giant supermarket, and every spoiled brat in the store can call 911 and get the cops to force their mean, mean mothers to buy them that damned candy bar. At gunpoint.

Ultimately -- if any semblance of corporate sanity still holds sway in the gay community -- I think they'll find this forced acceptance about as satisfying as "Heil Hitler . . . or else!" or "Convert to Islam or die!"

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