Everything was going just great for the gay rights
movement. In 2013 part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was struck down,
as well as that eight additional states legalised same-sex marriage. The
Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) passed the Senate for the first time
with an incredible 64 votes in favour and 32 against. ENDA would ban
discrimination against gay people in states where discrimination is not explicitly
banned.
2014 looked to be another great year for gay rights.
Courts in Utah, Oklahoma, Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia all made pro-gay rulings.
Lawsuits to expand gay rights have been filed, or are pending, in a further 20
states. Gay marriage looks likely to be brought before the Supreme Court,
perhaps 2014 could be the year every state has legal same-sex marriage.
Then several conservative states decided that the
anti-gay rights side needed some good news. Arizona, Idaho, Kansas,
Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah are considering passing laws that
would make discrimination against gays protected by the law!
Kansas was the first to gain national notoriety for the
homophobic legislation. The bill allowed for discrimination so long as the person
had “deeply held religious beliefs”. The truly horrifying part was that it
would allow for anyone to discriminate. Not just photographers who refused to
take pictures of a gay wedding. If you were gay it would allow government employees
to refuse you service, doctors could deny you treatment and policemen could
refuse to investigate crimes committed against you. Disgusting. The bill passed
the Kansas House 72-49 and was expected to pass the Republican controlled Senate.
Then the bill suddenly died! So what caused the bill, so sure to pass, to lose
support so quickly? It was the Kansas business community who we can thank for
its death! Kansas businesses feared the negative effect on their livelihoods
and so demanded that it never pass.
Unfortunately there is one state where a pro-discrimination
bill actually managed to pass both chambers: Arizona. The bill is being sold as
one that defends religious freedom, but the reality is that its sole intention
is to encourage discrimination. Just like in Kansas, business leaders are
opposed to it, which should influence Republican Governor Jan Brewer to veto
it.
Early reports suggest that Arizona has already started to
suffer from the bill (often referred to as SB 1062) passing the legislature.
Businesses are reporting that companies are cancelling business trips and
holidays in response to the law. George Takei, actor of Star Trek fame and now
a formidable force for equality, has called for a boycott of Arizona. His
husband, Brad Takei, is an Arizonan native and the couple visit Arizona
annually. Not anymore. Read George’s opinion here. The Super Bowl is scheduled to
be held in Arizona in 2015 and there have been calls that Arizona should lose it
as a result of the law.
Bizarrely, three legislators who voted for the bill are now calling for Brewer to veto the legislation calling it "a mistake". Hopefully all these difference forces will persuade Brewer that
discrimination has no place on the statute books of any state.
Even if the bills do manage to pass, it will not be long
before the courts rule them as unconstitutional. After all, these courts are
the same ones declaring same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional.
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