By Bob Allen
The Arkansas state senate has passed legislation sponsored by a Southern Baptist lawmaker making it illegal for cities to adopt local ordinances banning discrimination against gays.
SB-202, approved by both the House of Representatives and Senate, would make it illegal for a county, municipality or other political subdivision of the state to adopt or enforce an ordinance or policy preventing discrimination on a basis not contained in state law.
Freshman Sen. Bart Hester, a deacon at First Baptist Church of Bentonville, Ark., said the law basically means that civil rights in Arkansas are to be determined on a state level instead of a city-by-city. The rationale, he said, is that making hiring and firing standards uniform statewide makes it simpler for employers deciding where to open a business.
Most, however, view it as a reaction to an attempt by city officials in Fayetteville, Ark., to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity that voters rejected in a special referendum supported by leaders of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. Opponents called it a license to discriminate against LGBT people in Arkansas.
Hester, a Republican from Cave Springs, Ark., opposed the Fayetteville civil rights measure in a televised debate in December, claiming it would remove religious freedom by requiring pastors to perform marriages for people outside his religion, a claim that his opponent denied.
Hester said the ordinance, termed the “bathroom bill” by opponents including TV personality Michelle Duggar, would give an adult man “the right to share a bathroom with a six-year-old little girl, the right to share the changing room with women at the local gym.”
Discussing his own bill with BuzzFeed, Hester acknowledged that LGBT people can be targeted for discrimination but contended that “we are all singled out for discrimination.”
“I am singled out as a politician. I am singled out because I am married to one woman,” Hester said. “I want everyone in the LGBT community to have the same rights I do. I do not want them to have special rights that I do not have.”
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, also a Southern Baptist, said he would allow the bill to become law without his signature, a tactic traditionally used to indicate non-support but acknowledging there are enough votes to override a veto.
Hutchinson said on Facebook that as governor he recognized “the desire to prevent burdensome regulations on businesses across the state,” but said he is “concerned about the loss of local control.”
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Fayetteville, Ark., repeals anti-discrimination measure some Baptists opposed