GLAAD, the nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) media
advocacy organization, yesterday responded to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's
veto of Senate Bill 1062, which would have given license to Arizona
businesses to blatantly discriminate against LGBT people.
"Discrimination is not an American value, plain and simple," said GLAAD
CEO and President Sarah Kate Ellis. "Governor Brewer today demonstrated
that basic respect for LGBT people extends across party lines, and
anti-LGBT bias isn't just bad politics, it's bad for business. As other
states consider similar laws that aim only to make LGBT people's lives
more difficult, legislators would do well to remember that anti-LGBT
laws just won't be tolerated."
More than 80 companies urged Gov. Brewer to veto SB 1062. The full list is viewable here.
Additional companies that spoke out against the bill included Apple,
Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, GoDaddy Group,
Intel, JPMorgan Chase, Marriott, Southwest Airlines, and Yelp.
Sports organizations including Major League Baseball (MLB) and the
National Football League (NFL) also expressed concern about the bill.
Arizona is slated to host the Super Bowl in 2015.
Others who have spoken out against the bill include U.S. Senators from
Arizona John McCain and Jeff Flake. On Tuesday, Senator McCain told
CNN's Chris Cuomo that "This [bill] is going to hurt the state of
Arizona's economy and, frankly, our image, so I hope that the Governor
of Arizona will veto this and we will move on."
Faith leaders also spoke out strongly against the bill, including the
Rev. Debra W. Haffner, President of the Religious Institute; the Rev.
Nancy Wilson, Moderator of the Metropolitan Community Churches; and Mary
E. Hunt, Ph.D. of the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual.