Arizona legislature gives final approval to ‘anti-gay’ bill
By Nick Levine
Arizona’s legislature has given final approval to a bill that allows business owners to refuse service to gay customers by asserting their religious beliefs.
The bill was passed by 33 votes to 27 on Thursday evening (February 20), which sends the prospective legislation to the state’s Republican Governor Jane Brewer, who will now decide whether to make it law or not.
Brewer rejected similar legislation last year (2013) and told CNN yesterday (February 21): “I think anybody that owns a business can choose who they work with or who they don’t work with, but I don’t know that it needs to be statutory.
“In my life and in my businesses, if I don’t want to do business or if I don’t want to deal with a particular company or person or whatever, I’m not interested. That’s America. That’s freedom.”
Arizona-based LGBT group Wingspan organised a march to the Governor’s office in Tucson yesterday (February 21), drawing around 200 protesters carrying signs with slogans such as “God created us all equal” and “Shame on Arizona”.
Wingspan describes the bill as “outrageous” and says it will “encourage discrimination against LGBT citizens” and “lead to increased hostility between and among Arizonans”.
Similar legislation has been introduced in seven other States, but Arizona is the only one to pass it. Brewer is expected to make her decision on whether to implement the bill next week.