# No, the free market will not protect civil rights (or 'why the Civil Rights Act is still needed) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 10, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-the-free-market-will-not-protect-civil-rights-or-why-the-civil-rights-act-is-still-needed/680982 "2014-02-10T16:30:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 133
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-the-free-market-will-not-protect-civil-rights-or-why-the-civil-rights-act-is-still-needed/680982/133 "2014-02-11T15:49:30Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > A good example of this is discrimination against gay people. It’s perfectly legal in most states and at the federal level. How many businesses openly refuse service to gay people? And yes, I’m sure someone can post a link from Bettesburg, KS about the Sunstop Hotel refusing service, but I’m talking about a significant problem that needs legal action. Funny you should mention that. At the University of Missouri there’s a young man named Michael Sam. He’s an All-American defensive end and was projected to go as high as the third round in the NFL draft. On Sunday Michael Sam publicly announced he was gay. He had come out to his teammates in August. That revelation had caused no tumult in the locker room, as evidenced by Missouri having its best season in decades. On Monday, it was widely predicted that Sam’s [prospects](http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/nfl-draft-scout/24438468/nfl-draft-distraction-not-sexual-orientation-could-trigger-sams-fall) in the [NFL draft](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20140209/michael-sam-draft-stock/) would [drop considerably](http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=10430378&s=espn). And the lower the place in the draft, the lower the contract. The NFL is notably ruthless when it comes to evaluating talent, and teams have been known to draft convicted felons and players with known drug problems. Of course, we won’t actually know until the draft takes place in May, but as of today, it seems that an acknowledged good player will likely not be able to sell his services at a _fair market value_ because he is gay. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-the-free-market-will-not-protect-civil-rights-or-why-the-civil-rights-act-is-still-needed/680982)._