Jan Brewer's Staff Helped Write Anti-LGBT Bill She Vetoed

In an interesting turn of events it turns out that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's staff worked with the anti-gay Center for Arizona Policy as early as January of this year to craft the language of SB 1062 which brought down a firestorm on Arizona and the Arizona GOP.  As noted before, like The Family Foundation here in Virginia, the Center for Arizona Policy is a ultra far right group that pushes a Christofascist agenda, is vehemently anti-gay and welds great power over the Republican Party in Arizona.  As the Arizona Daily Star reports, the version of SB 1062 which was passed by the GOP controlled Arizona legislature had been signed off on by Brewer's office. The obvious question becomes one of why Brewer's office did not kill the bill from the offset given its extreme silence to discriminate?  Here are some story highlights:

Top aides to Gov. Jan Brewer sought and got proponents of a “religious liberty” bill to make changes to SB 1062 more than a month before she vetoed the measure.

Documents obtained by Capitol Media Services show gubernatorial counsel Joe Sciarrotta and adviser Michael Hunter met with staffers from the Center for Arizona Policy as early as January about the legislation. The documents, mainly email exchanges before and after meetings, show the alterations made in the legislation at the behest of the Brewer advisers.

CAP President Cathi Herrod said her organization made every change sought by the administration to her proposal to expand the existing state Religious Freedom Restoration Act. She said that includes deleting phrases that concerned the governor’s staff and adding provisions designed to narrow who could legally deny services to someone based on a claim of religious freedom.

“But the intent of the meetings, the purpose of the meetings, was to thoroughly vet the language, address their concerns, and make changes in the language pursuant to their concerns,” Herrod said. She said her organization addressed every concern raised by Hunter and Sciarrotta with the idea that this year’s version would not meet the same fate as a similar bill Brewer vetoed last year.
What led to this year’s veto, Herrod insisted, had nothing to do with the wording of SB 1062.

“But the intent of the meetings, the purpose of the meetings, was to thoroughly vet the language, address their concerns, and make changes in the language pursuant to their concerns,” Herrod said. She said her organization addressed every concern raised by Hunter and Sciarrotta with the idea that this year’s version would not meet the same fate as a similar bill Brewer vetoed last year.

What led to this year’s veto, Herrod insisted, had nothing to do with the wording of SB 1062.

I beg to differ with Ms. Herrod.  The veto had EVERYTHING to do with the wording of SB 1062 which would have given Christofascist a wide license to discriminate against gays - and everyone else that they hate and about whom they could  cite a Bible passage to justify their bigotry.

Christofascist and Arizon GOP Draft New Anti-Gay Bill

One would think that after the furor that surrounded Arizona SB 1062 and Gov. Jan Brewer's ultimate veto of the bill the Christofascists and their puppets in the Arizona GOP would have waited a while before bringing forth another anti-gay measure.  But, given the Christofascists' insistence that they be above the laws that govern everyone else, the pander political prostitutes in the Arizona GOP seem only too willing to try to push another anti-gay law through the Arizona legislature.  While less broad than SB 1062 in its application, the new bill - House Bill 2481- likewise seeks to give Christofascists who cite religious belief the right to ignore their responsibilities as public servants and turn gays away.  As for churches, the bill seeks to fix a problem that does not even exist.  Hhere are excerpts from AZCentral.com:

The demise of Senate Bill 1062, which was widely denounced as discriminatory against gays and lesbians, may not be the last word in Arizona’s debate over religious freedoms and civil rights this legislative session.

Another bill, also being touted as protecting religious freedom, has garnered little attention but could again force lawmakers to take a stand on a divisive issue.

House Bill 2481, which has advanced on mostly party-line committee votes and is awaiting a debate by the full House of Representatives, would prevent government from requiring ordained clergy and judges to “solemnize a marriage that is inconsistent with the minister’s sincerely held religious beliefs.”

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park, is narrower than SB 1062, which would have offered a legal defense for individuals and businesses facing discrimination lawsuits if they could have proved they acted upon a “sincerely held religious belief.”

An assistant pastor at a Surprise church, Montenegro told The Arizona Republic on Thursday that the legislation grew out of instances in New Jersey and England, where churches were sued for refusing to perform same-sex ceremonies. He said the legislation would also apply to priests, pastors, rabbis and others who might be asked to sanction marriages that contradict their beliefs and teachings.

He could not provide an example of a clergy member in Arizona who has been forced to act against his or her beliefs in marrying individuals. Marriage is defined in the state Constitution as only between a man and a woman.

The Anti-Defamation League has spoken against a provision that would extend the right to refuse to conduct ceremonies to judges, justices of the peace and clerks who perform them.  Religious officials are already exempt from lawsuits filed by people who feel they were wrongly denied marriage services, said Tracey Stewart, assistant regional director for the Anti- Defamation League.  But judges and other civil servants are not men of the cloth, she said.  “Those are usually individuals who are employed by government,” Stewart said.  Part of their public service as a government official extends to performing civil, not religious, marriage ceremonies, she said.

Political scientist John J. “Jack” Pitney Jr., who closely watches Arizona politics, said lawmakers’ inclination will be to avoid legislation similar to SB 1062, given the reaction from economic powerhouses like Apple and the NFL and high-profile political players such as former presidential candidate Mitt Romney and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

One has to wonder how a buffoon and nutcase like Rep.  Montenegro got elected in the first pace.  It does not speak well of his district or of Arizona as a whole.