When discrimination is not punishable?

The Queen Mary II, a world-famous cruise ship, has been chartered for a gays-only voyage. Isn't this an illicit act of discrimination? Isn't this something infamous against heterosexuals?

Of course not. The Queen Mary II is private property. Those who have chartered the vessel are owners of the money paid for the charter. It is a voluntary transaction between two parties that are free to choose whether to go on with it or not. No coercion has been used to make any of the parties sign the contract. Both parties understand perfectly well the terms and conditions of the transaction, and as free persons in their full right to dispose of their private property as they see fit, they have agreed to go on with the transaction.

The agreement does not violate any rights of third parties. It is not an agreement to kill or maim an innocent person, or to dispossess him of this property. If an heterosexual person feels sad for not being allowed into the vessel for this trip, he still has no right to demand to be admitted, as there is no duty on the part of the organizers to invite anybody in particular. Every man has freedom of association, which means you are free to choose with whom and with whom not to associate. So if John and Peter, a gay couple, give a party at their place and they do not want to invite any heterosexual person to it, they are in their right to do so and nobody has any valid claim against that decision. The owners of a club are free to decide the criteria to be used for admission.

But then, why is it that if the charter was for a trip exclusive for heterosexuals, there would be a public outrage? What is a scandal made whenever a mens-only club decides not to admit women to it? The answer is simple: because in truth the whole movement of affirmative action is nothing more than forced association, but the types of associations that are forced upon people are only those that the ones with the power elect to enforce.

The right to freedom of association signifies that you can choose whether you hang out with someone in particular or not. Nobody is legitimized to force you to spend time with someone you don't want to hang out with. Any law that in fact forces you to associate with someone you don't want to, is an immoral law. Affirmative action is complete negation of the right to freedom of association. And once you are no longer free to decide who you associate with, you have lost fundamental liberty. You are free no longer.