Penn Jillette Slams Indiana Law: No One Is Being Asked To ‘Endorse Gay Sex’

Penn Jillette is tired of Indiana’s anti-gay law and wants all people to have their cake, eat it too, and have flowers while they’re at it.

According to Salon, Jillette was on a CNN panel to discuss the law, which gives individuals who own businesses the legal right to deny services to lesbians, gays, transgendered, or bisexual people based upon each businessperson’s religious beliefs. Although Jillette is an atheist and against supporters of the law, he claims it is because the law is more about bigotry and less about freedom of religion.

“There is more to gay sex than cake and flowers. Now, I’m a libertarian and an atheist. So I’m kind of fighting myself on this. I don’t like the government involved in telling people what to do, and I certainly want people to have religious freedom. Because the only way people who don’t have religion are going to have freedom is if people who do have religion have freedom.”

The panel, which was hosted by Don Lemon, included supporters of the law. Kristen Waggoner of the Alliance Defending Freedom defended her belief that the law was appropriate for those who wanted to live their lives in a type of bubble which could not be burst by unwanted outsiders.

“What we have seen across this nation is that the government has begun attacking people of faith who simply want to live consistently both at home and in work with their religious beliefs.”

CNN reported Waggoner as saying that the government is actively punishing “people for their religious beliefs about marriage.” She claims those who hold fast to their religious beliefs and do not support the gay community would “violate their religion, and that is un-American” if they were forced to have to serve the gay community.

Penn Jillette sees things very differently. He cannot understand how serving someone cake, flowers, or any other service will trample on a person’s right to religious freedom.

Penn Jillette stated, “We are not talking about forcing people to engage in gay sex or even endorse gay sex. We’re asking them that maybe they can treat people the same as other people and that does not seem unreasonable.”

The debate has been loudly raging on between those who support the Indiana law because it serves as a way to control their environment in accordance to what they are comfortable with and those who think it takes humans back far too many years in the struggle for civil rights.

Penn Jillette thinks the whole issue will be history soon enough because young people are more supportive when it comes to gay rights. “All we need is time, and the whole thing will become a joke,” he said.

[Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images]