Protecting LGBT People From Discrimination Is Now Illegal In Arkansas, And Texas May Follow Suit

[n2doc]

As of Tuesday, it is now law that cities in Arkansas cannot pass ordinances protecting LGBT people from discrimination. That’s because a new bill became law — without Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) signing or vetoing — that limits municipalities from extending nondiscrimination protections to any class not protected by state law. Since state law does not include “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” as protected classes, nor now can any locality throughout the state. The law will officially take effect later this summer.

In addition to blocking further extensions, SB 202 likely invalidates preexisting protections in cities like Little Rock and Eureka Springs, Eureka Springs having just passed its ordinance earlier this month to preempt the bill. Tennessee passed a similar law in 2011 and though cities have since still advanced LGBT protections, their validity under state law has not been tested.

SB 202 seems to have passed specifically thanks to silence from the state’s business community. The Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce told ThinkProgress last week, “We have no position on that piece of legislation.” Walmart, which is based in Arkansas and has corporate LGBT protections, only spoke out on the bill Monday evening, mere hours before it was to become law without Hutchinson’s signature. Tyson Foods, another prominent Arkansas business that protects its gay employees, remained silent on the legislation.

It was businesses who helped defeat a similar “license to discriminate” bill in Arizona last year that was couched in “religious freedom” language. Conversely, statewide LGBT protections are actually advancing in Wyoming right now with support from groups like the Wyoming Mining Association, Petroleum Association of Wyoming, the Wyoming Lodging and Restaurant Association, and the Wyoming State AFL-CIO, all of whom argue that protecting LGBT workers will help them recruit talented employees.

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http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/02/24/3626203/lgbt-protections-ban-arkansas-texas/

[sinkingfeeling]

1. One of the reasons I'm leaving Arkansas.

[BigDemVoter]

7. I moved back HERE after 25 years in San Francisco. . . .

I would feel more at home living on the moon. . . .

I won't even go into all the horrors here, but the last 2.5 years have been hell.

To start with, I have no intention of insulting the good people of Arkansas. HOWEVER, I have no problem telling the truth.

There is a tiny percentage of educated individuals in the state, compared to the entire state population. A huge majority of Arkansans belong to some form of fundamentalist Christianity. It's sheer madness that in a state this poor and uneducated, the likes of Tom Cotton would resoundingly win election.

Tom Cotton's victory may seem counter intuitive, but when you have a population this ignorant and uneducated with little means to obtain truthful information, it's no surprise that these same people were taken in by the Koch brothers' huge expenditures in the state.

It IS interesting to note that Arkansas has not always been this bad. For what it's worth, Bill Clinton won multiple elections as Governor; he won the state when he ran for president. Furthermore, Arkansas had well-respected statesmen such as Senator J.W. Fulbright, Senator Dale Bumpers, and Senator David Pryor (NOT to be confused with his idiotic, bumbling, born-again BOZO of a son).

So what happened? I ALWAYS remember reading letters to the editor in the state paper from raging crazies. The former state newspaper, the Arkansas Gazette, a nationally recognized newspaper, was targeted by right-wing assholes in the state who went after the paper's advertisers. They managed to shut down the liberal Gazette, and they now have what is called the "Arkansas Democrat-Gazette"--a filthy, lying, asswipe of a rag. It rivals Fox News in its reporting, and I refuse to read it. I only receive the NYT delivered to my house, as I can't stand reading the obscene, far-fetched lies the Democrat-Gazette continually spins.

I have been back in the state for 2.5 years and came back for family reasons. This new legislation will result in my leaving the state as well. It's a matter of conscience, and I refuse to live in a state that sanctions discrimination and does so in such a sneaky and underhanded way. I don't want my tax money supporting these people. I hate to admit it, but I have become thoroughly revolted by everything in the state: the accent; the tendency of white people in Little Rock to flee, screaming, for the suburbs; the blatant bigotry against the LGBT community; the racism; and yes, the overwhelming born-again, intolerant religiosity.

In short, I have come to hate my home state. It will be a delight to see it vanish in my rear view mirror. I only regret that I will have to return to help take care of my aging parents. I will not ever live here again.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. All I can say is 'ditto'. I came here in 1992 and thought I'd found the one Southern

state I could live in. I'm done.

[marym625]

2. SICK SICK SICK

Fucking POS asswipes! Every last one of them

[V0ltairesGh0st]

3. Cowardly States

As an atheist, the LGBT cause concerns me more than most, because their plight , is the atheist plight. When their rights are denied our rights denied. I wonder when the Idiot legislators and judges these states, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, will finally realize they are fighting a losing battle. Even SCOTUS in all of it's errant right-wing audicity "treads-lightly" when LGBT rights come before them. This debate more than ANY other is the WEAKEST LINK in their cowardly armor. All of us should act to EXPLOIT this weakness ruthlessly.

[awoke_in_2003]

5. Welcome to DU...

I, too, am an atheist who support equal rights for all.

[awoke_in_2003]

4. Reccing for exposure...

this place (US) sucks sometimes.

[Crowman1979]

6. On a side note, let's thank the eight state senators who voted against this.

They tried. But unfortunately, they are outnumbered by the brainless half-wits in the state legislature.

[nomorenomore08]

8. ...