Arizona lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that would allow business owners to deny service to anyone, including homosexuals, as long as the owners provide religious beliefs to back up their actions.
In the hands of Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, the bill was vetoed after strong opposition from businesses and politicians from both political parties (including former presidential nominee John McCain). However, the main idea behind the bill – the balance between religious liberties and discrimination – remains a hotly debated topic in the United States.
Many groups and individuals provide the bill with strong criticism, including Ladue’s own Katy Chang, the senior leader of Ladue GSA. She said she believes it is outrageous for a bill like this one to pass in these times.
“After all, we frown upon discrimination against religious beliefs, race, and sex,” Chang said. “I don’t know why these legislators think it’s okay to strip the LGBT community of its basic human rights.”
The Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative group, pushes the bill on the other hand.
“The Arizona bill has a very simple premise, that Americans should be free to live and work according to their religious faith,” the center’s president, Cathi Herrod, said, according to cnn.com. “It’s simply about protecting religious liberty and nothing else.”
Supporters of the bill defend it, stating that it protects religious freedoms rather than advocating for discrimination. They also defend the bill because of the first amendment rights of American people.
“As we witness hostility towards people of faith grow like never before, we must take this opportunity to speak up for religious liberty,” the group’s website, azpolicy.org, said.
The website encourages visitors to send Brewer emails and to recruit friends to do so as well.
Last year Brewer vetoed a similar bill; however, she exhibits the belief that business owners should be able to choose their own customers. Brewer questions the requirement for this right to be included in state law.
“I think anybody that owns a business can choose who they work with or who they don’t work with,” Brewer said. “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, I’m not interested. That’s America. That’s freedom.”
Opposers of the bill worry that the bill will open up the floodgates to a broad range of discrimination within business’ right to deny service to any group of people that their religion may frown upon.
“What today’s bill does is allow private individuals and businesses to use religion to discriminate, sending a message that Arizona is intolerant and unwelcoming,” said the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona.
Views on homosexuality have been changing worldwide. According to pewglobal.org, 70% of 18-29 year olds in the U.S believe that homosexuality should be accepted as compared to the 52% of 50 and over citizens. Chang expresses her hope in continual change.
“Hopefully, the Ladue Gay-Straight Alliance, and all GSAs, can further educate other high schoolers so that this never happens again in the future,” she said.
