A history of hate: 4 ways anti-LGBTQ discrimination is still completely legal in Arizona

SB 1062 may be dead, but discrimination against LGBTQ people is still the law of the land in Arizona

KATIE MCDONOUGH

Arizona’s SB 1062 was a terrible bill and Jan Brewer was right to veto it.

Brewer, who is usually willing to go to bat to discriminate against LGBTQ people, ultimately decided to align herself with the majority consensus around the measure’s distinct awfulness. In addition to being universally maligned among LGBTQ individuals and allies, the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” was equally hated by 1) Republicans who voted for it, 2) corporations with otherwise abhorrent policies, 3) national sports franchises with considerable track records of homophobia.

In addition to giving private businesses even more power to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals and families, the measure was broad enough to invite a host of other forms of discrimination based on “sincerely held” religious beliefs. It also would have established a new category of corporate personhood in Arizona, a precedent with troubling and expansive implications.

Criticism of the bill reached a fever pitch this week, which perhaps makes this a good time to look at existing laws in Arizona that do very similar things to what this measure would have done. The bill may be dead, but LGBTQ rights are still precarious in the state. Discrimination of the sort sanctioned by SB 1062 is still in many ways perfectly legal in Arizona. (And while Arizona is the chosen object of scrutiny in this piece, it’s important to note that these problems exist across the country and also stem from a lack of federal protections against LGTBQ discrimination. Get it together, America.)

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http://www.salon.com/2014/02/27/a_history_of_hate_4_ways_anti_lgbtq_discrimination_is_already_legal_in_arizona/