Can we please get a good liberal Democrat to challenge Sharon Har in the next primary?
I already disliked Sharon Har’s mindless pro-development bent. (The Hawaii Bulding & Construction Trade Council loves her.) But in the recent gay marriage debate she proved herself not just a tool of development corporations, but also a champion of bigotry.
One of her concerns was that the gay marriage bill would show preference to gays in the area of divorce and therefore be unfair to straight people. But her main concern was over religious exemption. She wanted small businesses to be able to discriminate against gay people.
Har’s view:
If your religion tells you gay people are evil, and two men walk into your doughnut shop holding hands, you should be able to refuse to sell them your doughnuts. That, to Sharon Har and her cohorts, is religious freedom. They’re fighting for the freedom to discriminate.
I suspect that, in truth, Sharon Har stood against the gay marriage bill simply because she is against gay marriage. It didn’t really have to do with principled opposition to minor issues with the language of the bill. She wasn’t standing up for the rights of small businesses. She just believes it’s wrong for gays to marry, period.
But that’s just my guess. She hasn’t to my knowledge said that directly.
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