Julian Bond Expresses Outrage at Anti-LGBT Bill in Arkansas

[bigtree]

HumanRightsCampaign ?@HRC
American Civil Rights Leader Dr. Julian Bond Expresses Outrage at Anti-LGBT Bill in Arkansas. #HB1228 http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/american-civil-rights-leader-dr.-julian-bond-expresses-outrage-at-anti-lgbt …


Dr. Bond released the following statement:

"H.B. 1228 in Arkansas opens the door to a hateful past that some had thought this country had left behind. This legislation cloaks discrimination in the guise of religion--and it will mark people of color, LGBT Arkansans, religious minorities and women as second class citizens. Governor Hutchinson has a duty and a moral obligation to veto this legislation or the ghosts of the past will haunt his legacy."

Public opposition to the bill continues to grow, including by Apple, Wal-Mart, the Arkansas Municipal League, and countless fair-minded Arkansans opposed because of its likelihood of harming Arkansas’ LGBT community, religious minorities, and the business climate in the state.

Earlier today, HRC President Chad Griffin held a press conference in Little Rock condemning the bill, and urged the Arkansas state senate not to pass it, and if it should do, for Governor Hutchinson to veto it.

H.B. 1228 would empower individuals to pick and choose which laws they want to follow and allow an individual to sue government actors, including teachers, firefighters and police officers, if that individual believes their religious rights were being violated by a government action. For instance, a teacher who puts an anti-bullying policy into practice could be at risk of being sued, or a police officer could sue their precinct because patrolling a synagogue violated their religious beliefs. The bill has seen significant opposition from the business community.

read: http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/american-civil-rights-leader-dr.-julian-bond-expresses-outrage-at-anti-lgbt

[bigtree]

1. »

[Art_from_Ark]

2. Before too long, those legislators are going to quote, with pride, the late Paul Van Dalsem

“We don’t have any of these university women in Perry County, but I’ll tell you what we do up there when one of our women starts poking around in something she doesn’t know anything about. We get her an extra milk cow. If that don’t work, we give her a little more garden to tend to. And then if that’s not enough, we get her pregnant and keep her barefoot.”

http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=4771