... they would either seriously be financially hurting, or they'd go out of business.

Only if what they're discriminating against is thought to be "wrong" by the majority of their potential customers. Depending on where they are, they would do fine discriminating against specific groups of people. They'd be shit out of luck if they discriminated against the wrong types, however.

Wow. Well this is scary, don't you think? I mean, do you really think it's a good idea that your rights come from simple majority rule? That's a terrible precedent. I mean, that's exactly how things like slavery and racism were justified in the first place.

It may be scary to you, but its what is happening. You are not free. Think of the amount of things you need either a permit or a licence for. Think about the number of things you straight up cannot do, or would be fined for doing. Think of the various laws you can break and be sent to prison for. You are not free. Your freedoms come from the society in which you live, which is why its really important to elect the right people.

But it already has... it's forced this pizzeria to shut down - aren't you happy, now?

That was due to national pressure - people that would never have been customers giving it attention (and death threats). I'm sure there are dozens or hundreds of various stores across the country that would happily refuse various groups that are currently not 'protected' under the law and it isn't making the news. The "free market" would have to shut those down, naturally, without the public outcry for me to consider it to be "working". Then again, I don't rely on the free market to solve every economic problem.

And then the market will react, and smaller more gay/race/religious friendly places will open up.

Not necessarily, and not with the same coverage as making it law to serve all potential customers.

You have to actually change people's minds.

Absolutely. The first step is to make sure that no one can be refused business because of their race, gender, religion, or sexual preference. If you grow up in a world where its common and acceptable to refuse people based on their sexual preference or country of origin, you may think that it will be okay for you to do the same.

No they're not. Chick Fil'A allows people of all races/sexualities into their stores and to buy their products.

You misinterpreted what I said. My point was that Chick Fil'A is pretty public about their christian affiliation, and made the news several times by donating money to anti-gay causes. This would have certainly cost them potential customers, but it doesn't matter, because their product "is so good" that they still are able to turn a healthy profit. The whole idea was that the free market wouldn't fix everything when there are more people that agree with you, don't care about the issue, or would rather have your product even though they disagree with your views.

Now, see this is interesting. It's typically the left who are the first to say that, "we're all equal, we don't want two-tier this or that... all classes of people are equal." But, what you're supporting is inequality. You believe that certain classes of people deserve special treatment under the law, whereas others do not. I don't. I think we all deserve the same treatment, whether we're gay, straight, atheist, xian, etc....

I'm not saying everyone is different, i'm saying that some people need protection under the law because if they didn't have it, they'd be discriminated against. If people were really out to discriminate against white male christians, I'd be ensuring them the same protections that I would black lesbians. I'm not supporting "inequality", I'm supporting legislation that ensures that the groups that are currently being or are target to be marginalized have the same protections that most people take for granted - ie, the ability to buy a wedding cake.