Introducing the Padilla traveling circus

Posted on October 23, 2006 by David

Luis Padilla, fired by Cargill for refusing to refrain from displaying his anti-equality views to his co-workers, is being groomed for full blown martyrdom by Victoria Cobb, et al. Of course, every anti-gay media piece about the case consistently redacts or ignores the fact that Padilla was employed in Cargill’s human resources office, indicating that they know perfectly well the significance of this.

Here we have a fine example of the anti-gay right standing logic smartly on its head. In Cobb’s world, “valuing differences” means equally valuing those who demonize difference, and “everyone matters” means those who feel that some of us don’t matter at all should be treated as if their views matter just as much. Apparently, these folks are so caught up in the vortex of this circular reasoning that they are blind to how absurd it sounds.

“The legal letter that we have received back from Cargill’s legal department has basically said that they have these ‘Valuing Differences’ initiatives and they have this ‘Everyone Matters’ policy; and yet, apparently, Mr. Padilla’s views are not respected.”

What can you expect from an organization that calls itself the Family Foundation as it busies itself with trying to destroy other people’s families? It must make perfect sense to them to think that the universe of diversity and non-discrimination includes the rejection of diversity, and the right to discriminate.

They are milking Cargill’s decision to fire Padilla for all it’s worth. It’s a very creative attempt, sort of like the pretense that equal treatment under the law for everyone constitutes “special rights” for people they define as undeserving of equal treatment.

Sorry, Ms. Cobb. If you work in the human resources office of a company, your job is to uphold their non-discimination policies, not make up your own policy that includes your personal right to discriminate. Especially when you have worked at the company for only five months. One has to wonder about a prior relationship between Padilla and the Family Foundation. The timing of this incident is certainly interesting.

All viewpoints, no matter now noxious, are entitled to equal treatment in a public forum. But this was not a public forum.

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2 Responses to Introducing the Padilla traveling circus

  1. Jonathan says:
    October 23, 2006 at 8:47 am

    The Agape Press article says that Padilla is on a temporary work permit. Why is this non-voter so interested in Virginia’s constitution? Could it be that anti-gay discrimination is part of every day life in Honduras?

    There were no discriminatory laws based on sexual orientation, but in practice social discrimination against persons based on sexual orientation was widespread. Representatives of the sexual diversity rights NGOs Violet Collective, the San Pedro Gay Community, Kukulcan, and the Transvestite Sex Workers Collective of San Pedro Sula asserted that their members regularly experienced abuses, beatings, killings (see section 1.a.), and other physical and verbal mistreatment from authorities. They also asserted that there was anti-gay discrimination by security forces and government agencies, and that employers used illegal discriminatory hiring practices. These groups also reported that due to intimidation, fear of reprisal, and police corruption, gay and lesbian victims of abuse were reluctant to file charges or proceed with prosecutions.

    The NGO Red de Hombres Gay Positivos alleged that employers routinely ignored antidiscrimination employment laws and used testing supposedly for syphilis among employees and job applicants as a means to detect HIV status so as to weed out persons testing positive. The NGO also alleged that some Protestant churches fueled prejudice against HIV positive persons.

  2. Jonathan says:
    October 25, 2006 at 4:42 am

    Count on the Traditional Values Coalition to join the fray with this whacky press release.

    “This is an outrageous example of a company which cowers to the homosexual lobby,” Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, said today. “Cargill needs to get some backbone immediately and rehire this man.”

    “This sort of nonsense plays well in San Francisco but not in the Shenandoah Valley.”

    Of course, TVC doesn’t mention that Padilla worked for human resources, that he was on a work visa, and that he had only been employed for five months. Instead, they make it sound as if he bent over backwards to accomodate Cargill.

    He made several attempts to accommodate the company such as parking away from the plant and, finally, covering the message when he parked near the plant.

    They even get a statement from the Attorney General Bob McDonnell

    “I can find no legal basis for the proposition that passage of the marriage amendment will limit or infringe upon the ordinary civil and legal rights of unmarried Virginians,”

    Well, the AG believes that the state can fire employess at will for being gay. That’s not harrassment either. Funny how this “works”.