Tim Bono, owner of Bono Film and Video in Arlington, VA is a hero today.
Last month there was a story in the Washington Post about how this mean, bigoted Christian had discriminated against a gentle, kind, violin-playing gay-rights activist named Lilli Vincenz and been found guilty of said discrimination by the Arlinton County Human Rights Commission. Looking past the Post's slanted (90 degrees +) story, I found that Mr. Bono operated a film-reproducing business called Bono Film and Video.
Mr. Bono chose to run his business in accord with his Christian values and he had a disclaimer on his website stating that he would not reproduce works which contained pornographic or other immoral content. Lilli Vicenz, a professional gay-right activist, presumably saw this disclaimer and e-mailed Bono, asking if he would reproduce a couple of old films she'd made about early gay rights protests. No money ever changed hands and nothing more specific was ever asked, because as soon as Mr. Bono discovered that the films contained homosexual context, he sent he an e-mail back stating that he did not wish to take on this job. And instead of taking her videos to any other store and just getting them copied, Vincenz ran down to the Arlington County Courthouse and filed a suit against Bono, alleging the he'd discriminated against her. Now mind you--there was never a contract and no money changed hands. She sent an e-mail asking if he'd be interested in doing this job and he sent one back that said no. Frankly it smacked of a set-up by this self-described "life-long gay activist" who just didn't like the idea behind Bono's disclaimer and saw a chance to get some free publicity for herself and her cause.
Outrageously, the Arlington Human Rights Commission immediately decided against Mr. Bono and ordered him to either reproduce Vincenz's films or reach into his own pocket and pay another photo lab to do it for her. They backed this order up with the threat of a $5,000 sanction if he refused to comply, in effect telling him and everyone else that we have no right to turn down business offers no matter how objectionable if the person making the offer is gay. presumably Bono would have turned down a similar request to reproduce straight porn or videos revolving around witchcraft, and that would have been ok according to the commission. But enter a gay activist with an agenda and everything changes.
But Bono stood his ground and the Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal-rights group, backed him up. They filed a suit on his behalf against the Arlington Human Rights Commission as outlined in this short Press Release. The premise was that local government does not have the right to pass legislation that gives special status to people that the state legislature has not given it to, in this case, people who simply prefer to have sex with members of their own gender. And no sooner was this suit filed, than the 6-11-06 edition of the Washington Post reported a change of opinion by the Arlington Human Rights Commission. That board voted to reverse itself and absolved Mr. Bono completely of any and all charges of discrimination.
So thanks to the Liberty Counsel and Tim Bono for standing up against the forces of political correctness and liberalism. it's good to know that in the year 2006, Americans are still free to turn down offers to do business that are morally objectionable no matter who asks.
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