Arizona governor vetoes discriminatory bill

February 26, 2014
Episcopal Cafe

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) announced Wednesday night that she has vetoed a controversial bill that would have allowed businesses to deny service to gays and lesbians if they felt it violated their religious rights.

Gay rights advocates have denounced the legislation, labeling it a form of legalized discrimination, and Arizona’s two GOP senators and leading Republican candidates for governor urged Brewer to veto the bill. Even a few GOP state legislators who voted for the measure now say it is not the right thing to do.

Brewer said in a brief press conference that the bill “does not address a specific or pressing concern” and that it is not part of her agenda.

The Dean of the Cathedral the Very Rev. Troy Mendez and Bishop Kirk Smith of the Diocese of Arizona spoke out against this bill.

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Ann Fontaine

February 26, 2014 10:21 pm

And for Uganda shilling drops in value:

Uganda’s shilling fell the most since March 2012 against the dollar after donors started cutting aid after President Yoweri Museveni signed a law that imposes life sentences on some homosexual acts.

Norway is withholding aid and Denmark said it will redirect assistance to private industries, while Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg is reconsidering his nation’s program. That comes after Standard & Poor’s cut Uganda’s credit rating last month on concern that the budget deficit will widen as spending increases and donors including the World Bank, the U.K. and Ireland suspended support in 2012 because of corruption. Africa’s biggest coffee exporter relies on donors for about 20 percent of its annual budget.

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John B. Chilton

February 26, 2014 9:40 pm

Same day:

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/02/lawmaker_scraps_ohios_version.html

"Bill sponsors agree to scrap Ohio version of Arizona's controversial religious freedom bill."

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