Ranting On...SB 1062

Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ)

All right-I’ve been a bit lax recently with my posting (a bit would actually be wildly generous).  But February has sort of consumed my life, and travel, work, the Olympics, and dating have all taken over my free time, so I haven’t been able to devote the time I would have hoped to the blog (this exact thing happened last year-perhaps I should remember this twelve months from now that February is a free time suck).

But March is coming, and for the blog it’s coming in like a lion, as I want to write more posts, starting with today’s.  I know that this could be moot by as soon as a few hours from now, since Gov. Jan Brewer is almost certain to announce her support or opposition to SB1062 in the next 48 hours, and my gut is telling me it will be the latter considering the overwhelming cover she has from the business community and her state’s two Republican senators supporting a veto.  That being said, though, it says something that SB1062 was able to be passed at all, and considering other like-minded bills floating through the concaves of the Republican Party, it calls into question what the GOP needs to start doing on gay rights.

I’m not going to argue whether the bill is a good idea or not-it’s clearly a terrible idea on nearly all fronts.  People are generally sympathetic of the religious struggles people encounter when it comes to gay marriage and their beliefs, particularly when they are civilians and not politicians (if you can’t make up your mind as a politician, don’t run for such an office).  However, only a moron would assume that they could refuse service to a GLBT citizen and not endure some sort of backlash from the community at large.  Maybe I’m being a bit naïve here (I obviously have heard stories of florists or photographers refusing to work at gay weddings, and businesses like Chick-fil-A and Papa John’s are still around), but even the most conservative areas of the country have a sole purpose in business-to make more money.  I am openly gay and live in a relatively liberal part of the country, but last weekend I went to a deep red state.  I was still openly gay, and yet when I bought gas, groceries, and food at a restaurant, I was never once asked about my sexual orientation, and that’s because the people I was interacting at these businesses didn’t care.  They only cared that I could pay for the goods and services that I was purchasing.  That’s the whole point of business.

And that’s what John McCain and Jeff Flake and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and hundreds of typically and reliably conservative leaders are aware of as well-this could take a serious hit on the Arizonan economy.  Look at happened when the state pulled a similar stunt with not allowing MLK Day to be a federal holiday in 1992, which resulted in them losing the Cowboys/Bills Super Bowl.  A similar event could well happen if Brewer doesn’t veto the bill this next year, as Arizona is scheduled to host Super Bowl XLIX next year in Glendale.

It’s also worth noting that this would be a large hit on the businesses of the state, and the reputation of the state’s business community.  How will it help with recruiting talent from other states to come and work for you if you have a harsh anti-gay law on the books?  Why would gay tourists consider visiting your state (and Arizona in particular relies heavily on tourism dollars)?

And what does it say now about the Republican Party that this is the direction they’re taking with the anti-gay (for lack of a better term) movement.  The other major gay news of the week was Jack Burkman’s bizarre and pointless move to try and get Congress to ban gay men from competing in the NFL, spurred by the likelihood that Michael Sam will become the first openly gay member of the league.  The bill has no hope of passing through Congress (it’d struggle even in the Republican-led House, and I’m guessing Harry Reid would take personal pleasure throwing it in the garbage if it made it to the Senate), and likely will just put Republican lawmakers into extremely uncomfortable positions in the “do I have more of a risk in a primary or a general election,” and will surely give senate candidates like Steve Daines heartburn.

The reality is, though, that with the GOP controlling a host of governor’s mansions and state legislatures, this is an issue that is not going away.  Even if Brewer vetoes the bill, there’s definitely going to be a high-profile state that pushes such a bill claiming religious freedom.  Heck, look at how many states don’t actually ban employment discrimination even today or how State Sen. Al Melvin, one of the chief proponents for the bill, is running to replace Brewer in November’s election.  This is probably going to get worse before it gets better in red states, and I have to say, there’s a giant Midterm election coming up that could put some fear into Republican governor’s who are in support of such legislation.  Usually Democrats and gay-friendly supporters don’t have a lot of options in one-sided elections, but that’s not the case in a host of Romney-won states this year.  Major gubernatorial elections in dark red states such as Kansas, Texas, South Carolina, and of course Arizona, as well as Senate races in West Virginia, Montana, Arkansas, North Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Kentucky, and Alaska are all surefire ways to say that you don’t support a bill like this.  I know that Brewer could well veto the law, but it says something that this did indeed pass the legislature, and that your vote does matter severely in this particular fight.  So cast it well.