I guess I'll give my take on the issue. I've been a co-owner in one small business and a sole proprietor in another, both store-fronts with multiple employees, both successful and in operation for multiple years before I sold. My mother owned a successful restaurant for several years, where I worked throughout high school.
The question, as I see it, is about fairness and having valid and logical rules which apply to everyone. What does someone being gay, or black, or hispanic, or white have to do with my business? If I make an exclusionary rule, does it serve a positive purpose for my business? I think part of being a business owner is having a responsibility to being professional and treating everyone who walks in the door as equal potential business partners UNLESS they do something which takes away that privilege.
I just really can't see a reason why I would ever not do business with someone because of something which has nothing to do with the business itself. It makes no sense to me. It would be purely selfish and putting my own personal opinions ahead of the interests of the business. A person who does that on a broad basis deserves to lose their stake.
