Arkansas Defies Widespread Outrage by Passing ‘Religious Freedom’ Act

Seen by its many critics as a monumental setback to LGBT equality, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was ratified by the Arkansas Legislature Tuesday. Those opposed to the bill assert that it will permit business owners to discriminate against gay, lesbian and transgender people on religious grounds.

The bill, known as HB1228 or RFRA, will go into effect this week regardless of whether Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson signs it.

As Human Rights Campaign legal director Sarah Warbelow told The Huffington Post, Tuesday’s decision mirrors the recent legislation in Indiana. “The Arkansas and Indiana bills are virtually identical in terms of language and intent,” Warbelow said. “They place LGBT people, people of color, religious minorities, women and many more people at risk of discrimination.”

In both cases, the act has provoked widespread outrage, as The New York Times reports:

Business resistance in both states continued to grow, with Gap and Levi Strauss joining Walmart, Apple, Yelp and other major corporations in expressing disapproval. On Monday, the chief executive of Acxiom, a marketing technology company based in Little Rock that employs nearly 1,600 statewide, urged the Arkansas governor to veto a bill that was “a deliberate vehicle for enabling discrimination.”

In urging Mr. Hutchinson to veto the legislation, the chief executive of Walmart, Doug McMillon, said that the bill “threatens to undermine the spirit of inclusion present throughout the state of Arkansas and does not reflect the values we proudly uphold.”

Angie’s List cited the Indiana law in canceling plans to expand its facilities in Indianapolis. Celebrities have ridiculed the law, entertainers have canceled tour dates in the state because of it, a gaming convention is considering going elsewhere, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York on Tuesday became the latest governor to impose a ban on state-funded travel to Indiana, joining his counterparts in Connecticut and Washington.”

So-called “religious freedom,” warns the bills’ vast opposition, comes at the cost of massive exclusion.

“The Indiana law,” states The Times, “has some differences from the federal law, and most of the state laws, that critics say are significant, including a provision explicitly stating that it applies to the exercise of religious beliefs by businesses as well as individuals and religious groups. The idea that a for-profit business has religious rights, and can cite them in contesting government action, was not widely considered until recently. But last year the Supreme Court upheld that principle in the case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores.

Another difference between Indiana’s law and most similar ones is that it says businesses can use religious freedom as a defense against lawsuits brought by individuals, not just those filed by the government.”

—Posted by Roisin Davis

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