Arkansas Issues “License to Discriminate”

Arkansas Issues “License to Discriminate”

Following up on recent developments in Kansas, the state of Arkansas has formally joined other leading states in reverting the battle against sexually-based discrimination.

According to the new law, local governments are not allowed to enforce actions against companies and businesses who refuse to offer their services to customers when, by doing so, they’re violating their personal or religious beliefs. This development has been characterized by some as issuing a license to discriminate on sexual orientation grounds.

The bill was approved on February 13th (Friday the 13th) by the Arkansas House of Representatives and immediately sparked passionate reactions. Among them, Governor Asa Hutchinson’s refusal to sign the bill, however acknowledging it wouldn’t stop it from passing into law given its amount of support.

A more balanced reaction came from Senator Bart Hester, who reportedly stated he had no wish to grant special rights to the LGBT community since it’s his firm belief that everyone is entitled to the same rights regardless of sexual orientation.

More conservative members, such as Representative Mary Bentley, shared her views in support of the bill stating that “a baker that loves the word of God, that’s bringing her children up to honor God and to worship God, should have her business destroyed because she doesn’t want to bake a cake for someone who is a transgender trying to marry someone else,”.

Similar bills have been proposed in the past although vetoed due to tremendous pressure in opposition, which is what happened in the state of Arizona with Gov. Jan Brewer. To date, Mississippi is the only state who has passed such a bill into law.

Civil rights groups and advocates have spoken disparagingly of these actions, stating they’re not only a slap in the face of social justice but a bad move for financial growth. According to the Associated Press, Rita Sklar, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Arkansas affiliate, stated that “talented people are not going to want to move to a place with such laws”.

Others likeTippi McCullough, the president of the state’s Stonewall Democrats chapter, will go as far as denouncing the passing of such legislation as a blatant attack on the LGBT community, agreeing with Sen. Bart Hester as she stated “we are deserving of the rights all our brothers and sisters have here in our great state we love and will continue to work until we achieve equality.”