“Gays and lesbians not served here,” reads a sign in an Arizona coffee shop. It’s 2014. The same prejudice that was around in the early 1900s still seems to linger; with gay people as the target instead of African Americans.

In February of this year, Arizona’s Legislature passed a controversial bill that would allow business owners, as long as they assert their religious beliefs, to deny service to gay and lesbian customers.

The bill was vetoed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, but it is the fact that it was even passed in the first place that is both shocking and disappointing. What’s even more shocking, however, is the number of students who actually agree with the law.

“It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” said one junior girl who preferred not to be named. “Anything else is unnatural, and if it makes people uncomfortable, they should be able to run their business the way they want to.”

First of all, anyone who uses the argument “Adam and Eve” vs “Adam and Steve” needs to “Adam and leave.” Secondly, there is more than one side of the story. Having gay people in your bakery might make you uncomfortable for a few minutes, but denying them the simple right to buy a bagel creates a whole new issue.

It escalates the situation from being an issue about mental acceptance (or lack of) to an issue of civil rights. It may just be a few minutes for the business owners, but it’s the customer’s entire life.

The business owners could be completely against the idea of homosexuality, but  should still have the simple human decency to treat the person the same as any other customer.

Homosexuality may be considered a sin in many religions or “unnatural” in the eyes of some, but  people need to take ten seconds and stop thinking about themselves.

“It makes me uncomfortable,” “It’s against my religion,” “I don’t want to see gay couples,” “I don’t want my kids to be exposed to that.” I. I. I. Many need to realize that the world is not about them, and there are other people they are oppressing due to their selfishness.

“If gay people aren’t doing anything to you, what are you getting out of stopping them from doing what they want?” said junior Sonora Desai. “Everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe, but their beliefs shouldn’t affect anyone else’s lives.”

Another facet of the issue of homosexuality is same-sex marriage, which is still against the law in 33 states. This debate seems to be the epitome of social issues recently, from school classrooms to the national news, and the opinions range from one extreme to another.

The state of Michigan’s views on gay marriage also range from extremes, from making it legal to vetoing it all in one weekend. However, in that short amount of time, hundreds of same-sex couples said their vows, and although it may be illegal again now, it is only a matter of time before gay marriage is once again legal in the glove.

“Why can’t people learn to not just tolerate, but ACCEPT all people? Gay rights are not rights for homosexual people; they are rights that should be extended to ALL humans, regardless of any factors that make them different,” said junior Hanna Grabowski.

Once people learn to expand their narrow view on the world and realize that, whether or not they agree with it, they have no right to take away the rights of others. Love is love, no matter gender, race, or sexual orientation.

And in the wise words of Macklemore, “I might not be the same, but that’s not important, no freedom till we’re equal…I support it.”