Arkansas is apparently jealous of all the
attention Indiana is getting, so it's back for another whack at LGBT hate. They enacted
a different hate law last month that prohibited any jurisdictions from passing nondiscrimination protections for LGBT folks. Now they've
passed a "religious freedom" bill that will ensure the right to discriminate against LGBT people on religious grounds (i.e. cuz the Bible tells you so).
HB1228, the so-called conscience protection bill by Rep. Bob Ballinger (R-Hindsville) that would allow Arkansans to discriminate against LGBT people based on their personal interpretation of religion, has passed the state Senate by a vote of 24-7. It now heads to the House.
No one spoke in favor of HB1228 after it was introduced by Sen. Bart Hester, though several Senators spoke out passionately against it.
Oh, suddenly no one wants to go on record touting all the benefits of the bill, but they voted for it anyway. Cowards. If you can't speak to the merits of a bill, you know it's crap. Every one of those 27 state senators voted in favor of discrimination. Congrats to them! May each and every one of them have to look in their childrens' or grandchildrens' eyes one day and explain their bigotry.
Just to be clear here—most people across the nation already have free rein to discriminate against certain law-abiding, taxpaying citizens, otherwise known as LGBT Americans. Federal law provides no explicit nondiscrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. However, transgender Americans have been having success combating workplace discrimination through the sex discrimination protections provided in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Additionally, 18 states plus the District of Columbia have passed LGBT workplace protections—(spoiler alert: Arkansas is not one of them).
The bill could soon be headed to Gov. Ass Asa Hutchinson's desk.
Hutchinson said Thursday that he intended to sign the bill. It first heads back to the House, where it was passed in February, to consider amendments added on the Senate side.
The Human Rights Campaign is making a push to dissuade Hutchinson from giving the bill his signature
by placing this ad in the
San Jose Mercury News, the most widely read newspaper in Silicon Valley. Hutchinson
has been seeking more tech investment in Arkansas. Good luck with that. Hutch might want to
look up Brendan Eich.