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| Arizona governor Jan Brewer urged to block anti-gay bill as debate swirls | Arizona governor Jan Brewer urged to block anti-gay bill as debate swirls |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, returns to Phoenix from Washington on Tuesday and flies straight into a political storm over a new state bill that allows local businesses to refuse to serve gay people on grounds of religious freedom. | Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, returns to Phoenix from Washington on Tuesday and flies straight into a political storm over a new state bill that allows local businesses to refuse to serve gay people on grounds of religious freedom. |
| Brewer has until end of the day on Saturday to decide whether or not to veto SB 1062, which has cleared the legislature under the title “exercise of religion” and is awaiting the governor’s signature. | |
| Though it does not mention same-sex marriage or relationships directly, it is clearly targeted at gay people, giving businesses immunity from discrimination lawsuits should they chose to deny service to customers in accordance with their religious beliefs. | Though it does not mention same-sex marriage or relationships directly, it is clearly targeted at gay people, giving businesses immunity from discrimination lawsuits should they chose to deny service to customers in accordance with their religious beliefs. |
| Prominent Republicans, businesses groups in Arizona and even some religious leaders have called on the governor to block the bill. The signs were on Tuesday that she would accede to the pressure. | Prominent Republicans, businesses groups in Arizona and even some religious leaders have called on the governor to block the bill. The signs were on Tuesday that she would accede to the pressure. |
| “I have a history of deliberating and having an open dialogue on bills that are controversial, to listen to both sides of those issues, and I welcome the input and information that they can provide to me,” Brewer said in an interview with CNN. “And certainly I am pro-business, and that is what’s turning our economy around, so I appreciate their input, as I appreciate the other side.” | “I have a history of deliberating and having an open dialogue on bills that are controversial, to listen to both sides of those issues, and I welcome the input and information that they can provide to me,” Brewer said in an interview with CNN. “And certainly I am pro-business, and that is what’s turning our economy around, so I appreciate their input, as I appreciate the other side.” |
| The political maelstrom engulfing Brewer – in which prominent political figures, businesses and even religious leaders are pleading with the governor to block the bill – puts Arizona at the front line of the increasingly tense confrontation over gay marriage that is sweeping across the US. Gay rights activists have been emboldened by the US supreme court’s decision last June to award same-sex spouses equal federal benefit rights, prompting an anti-gay backlash primarily in the more conservative southern states. | The political maelstrom engulfing Brewer – in which prominent political figures, businesses and even religious leaders are pleading with the governor to block the bill – puts Arizona at the front line of the increasingly tense confrontation over gay marriage that is sweeping across the US. Gay rights activists have been emboldened by the US supreme court’s decision last June to award same-sex spouses equal federal benefit rights, prompting an anti-gay backlash primarily in the more conservative southern states. |
| On Tuesday, a trial opened in federal court in Detroit in which a lesbian couple challenged Michigan’s constitutional ban on gay marriage. The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, contests the constitutional amendment passed by Michigan voters in 2004 on the grounds that it violates the equal protection clause of the US constitution. | On Tuesday, a trial opened in federal court in Detroit in which a lesbian couple challenged Michigan’s constitutional ban on gay marriage. The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, contests the constitutional amendment passed by Michigan voters in 2004 on the grounds that it violates the equal protection clause of the US constitution. |
| Federal judges have recently struck down similar bans in Oklahoma and Utah, where state authorities are appealing. In Virginia, the state’s attorney general decided not to defend a legal challenge. At least 17 states and the District of Columbia have legislated in favour of same-sex marriages, while more than 30, including Arizona, still proscribe the practice. | Federal judges have recently struck down similar bans in Oklahoma and Utah, where state authorities are appealing. In Virginia, the state’s attorney general decided not to defend a legal challenge. At least 17 states and the District of Columbia have legislated in favour of same-sex marriages, while more than 30, including Arizona, still proscribe the practice. |
| As the fight has intensified, several conservative-leaning states have sought to counter the general trend towards gay marriage rights by flexing their own legislative muscle. In Kansas earlier this month, state lawmakers proposed a bill similar to Arizona’s SB 1062 that would allow denial of service to gay and lesbian couples without legal retribution, although the proposal is stalled in the state senate. Another similar bill is passing through the state legislature in Georgia. | As the fight has intensified, several conservative-leaning states have sought to counter the general trend towards gay marriage rights by flexing their own legislative muscle. In Kansas earlier this month, state lawmakers proposed a bill similar to Arizona’s SB 1062 that would allow denial of service to gay and lesbian couples without legal retribution, although the proposal is stalled in the state senate. Another similar bill is passing through the state legislature in Georgia. |
| Now Eric Holder, the US attorney general, has waded into the fray, telling the New York Times that state attorneys general should not be obliged to defend same-sex marriage prohibitions in their states. Already, Democratic attorney generals in six states – California, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Virginia – have refused to back such bans when they have been challenged in court by gay couples. | Now Eric Holder, the US attorney general, has waded into the fray, telling the New York Times that state attorneys general should not be obliged to defend same-sex marriage prohibitions in their states. Already, Democratic attorney generals in six states – California, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Virginia – have refused to back such bans when they have been challenged in court by gay couples. |
| The standoff between largely Republican lawmakers in the more conservative states and Democratic attorneys general and gay rights activists ensures there is more drama to come – in state legislatures and in the courts. Most observers believe the issue will not finally settle down until the US supreme court delivers its verdict on the constitutionality of gay marriage itself – an issue that the nine justices have so far declined to consider head-on. | The standoff between largely Republican lawmakers in the more conservative states and Democratic attorneys general and gay rights activists ensures there is more drama to come – in state legislatures and in the courts. Most observers believe the issue will not finally settle down until the US supreme court delivers its verdict on the constitutionality of gay marriage itself – an issue that the nine justices have so far declined to consider head-on. |
| It is into this febrile situation that Brewer lands back on Tuesday, as speculation was rising that she would in the end use her veto power and put a stop to SB 1062. But until she actually does, all bets are off – the last time she was in a similar conundrum, over the hardline SB 1070 that drastically curtailed the rights of undocumented immigrants, she signed the bill. | It is into this febrile situation that Brewer lands back on Tuesday, as speculation was rising that she would in the end use her veto power and put a stop to SB 1062. But until she actually does, all bets are off – the last time she was in a similar conundrum, over the hardline SB 1070 that drastically curtailed the rights of undocumented immigrants, she signed the bill. |
| Pushing her in one direction is a mounting groundswell of opinion that warns that enactment of SB 1062 would be disastrous for Arizona’s shaky economy. In this camp are major employers such as Apple, American Airlines and Marriott hotels, and the committee organizing Arizona’s hosting of the Super Bowl in 2015, which some commentators have suggested might be in jeopardy if the bill becomes law. | Pushing her in one direction is a mounting groundswell of opinion that warns that enactment of SB 1062 would be disastrous for Arizona’s shaky economy. In this camp are major employers such as Apple, American Airlines and Marriott hotels, and the committee organizing Arizona’s hosting of the Super Bowl in 2015, which some commentators have suggested might be in jeopardy if the bill becomes law. |
| Arizona’s Republican US senators – John McCain and Jeff Flake – have urged Brewer to wield her veto, as have three Republican state senators, Adam Driggs, Steve Pierce the architect of the anti-immigrant SB 1070 bill, and Bob Worsley, who all previously backed the refusal-of-service proposal. | Arizona’s Republican US senators – John McCain and Jeff Flake – have urged Brewer to wield her veto, as have three Republican state senators, Adam Driggs, Steve Pierce the architect of the anti-immigrant SB 1070 bill, and Bob Worsley, who all previously backed the refusal-of-service proposal. |
| Shoving in the other direction is the original promoter of the bill, the Center for Arizona Policy, that has called the furore over the legislation “politics at its worst”. | Shoving in the other direction is the original promoter of the bill, the Center for Arizona Policy, that has called the furore over the legislation “politics at its worst”. |