Arizona’s Immigrant and LGBT Rights

Given Arizona’s 2010 passage of the anti-immigrant S.B. 1070 and the significant backlash it faced, Gov. Jan Brewer’s recent veto of S.B. 1062 may indicate that the state is moving in a positive direction on LGBT and immigrant rights.

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Idea of the Day

Idea of the Day

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) recently vetoed S.B. 1062, a controversial bill that would have given businesses greater license to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, people. Gov. Brewer’s veto came after a nationwide public outcry over the measure—and after four of the state’s largest business groups sent her a letter that expressed their concern over the potential harm it could cause to employers, tourism, job creation, and the overall economy.

Arizona is neither the first nor the only state to consider such legislation: Mississippi saw a similar bill pass unanimously in the state senate in January, and four other states are still considering similar measures that have not attracted similar levels of public outrage across the political spectrum. But S.B. 1062 struck a chord among Americans in part because of its strong parallels to an earlier debate. Just four years ago, Arizona made national news after it passed a tough anti-immigrant bill, S.B. 1070.

Does the veto of S.B. 1062 signal progress?

For more on this topic, please see:

Arizona, Immigration, and LGBT Rights: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Laura E. Durso, Angela Maria Kelley, and Philip E. Wolgin

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