U.S. citizens should be allowed to deny service to homosexuals

:) I'll start off on my stance on homosexuality being a choice of the individual. As of right now, I haven't found any truly reliable evidence that proves that attraction to the same sex is a matter of choice. Then again, I also haven't found any sources that reliably prove the opposite. Given what information we have on this, I think the safest thing to say is that we don't know for sure why certain individuals are gay or straight. My personal stance on this is that sexual orientation varies naturally, because such behavior is also observable in species other than humans. But this is something we can save for another debate if we so choose to. When it comes to the question of denying service to an individual, I think that business owners must ask themselves this one question: Does the person I'm providing service to pose any legitimate threat to myself, others, or the welfare of the business? If the answer to this question is no, meaning no harm can come to anyone by providing service to the person, then the service should be given to the person requesting it. If the answer to the question is yes, then the business owner should be able to reasonably refuse service to the individual. Because I cannot see anything inherently threatening about homosexuality to a business or to people, I do not understand why service should be refused to people who identify as homosexual. .. If it is a matter of being uncomfortable with their sexual orientation, it's purely unrealistic and over-the-top to deny them from service. In this large and varied Earth, there will be people that are different in ideology or sexuality from most, and though being uncomfortable with them is something the law and the enforcers of the law cannot control, people must try to be tolerant of them regardless of this, because minorities do exist and they do have rights as human beings. Think about it this way: If the customer was an individual was of a racial minority that the service provider was uncomfortable with, should the provider be able to legally deny service? The answer is no; if service was denied on no other grounds than the customer's race, it would be considered discrimination in the eyes of the law. The Civil Right Act of 1964 made this quite clear. If it is a matter of homosexuality being against the service provider's religious practices, the above paragraph still holds true. The simple fact that one's religion prohibits same-sex relationships should not be a deciding factor on whether service should be given. While the right to have religious beliefs is indeed absolute, the freedom to act on such beliefs is not always absolute. In the case Reynolds v. United States (1878), the Supreme Court found that while the law can't interfere with religious belief and opinions, laws can in fact be made to regulate some religious practice if such practice may cause harm to the welfare of others. I disagree with the statement that we are oppressing American small businesses by creating legislation that somehow "go against their beliefs. " First off, this statement is very generalized. The truth is, the majority of small businesses in America do not agree that homosexuals should be denied service. A survey conducted by The Small Business Majority, a group containing over 40,000 members across the country, found that "Two-thirds (66%) of small businesses say business owners shouldn"t be able to deny goods or services to someone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender based on the owner"s religious beliefs. " (1) Second, in the case of providing service, the business owners are liable for anything kept or refused from the customer, and therefore by doing so are restricting the customer's freedom, not the other way around. And with that, I end my opening statement. Again, I hope this debate is kept as respectful and proper as possible, and I wish you good luck. Source cited: "Opinion Poll: Small Business Owners Oppose Denying Services to LGBT Customers Based on Religious Beliefs" (1) . http://www.smallbusinessmajority.org...