Posted by Carolyn Classen “Tucson Alliance of Dramatic Artists (TADA) presents the winner of their first annual play competition. Sheldon Metz, TADA’s artistic director, directs this production, the true story of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy who was killed in Mississippi in 1955 for supposedly whistling at a white woman. Emmett’s brutal murder triggered … Read more
The AZ Senate debated SB1062, which would allow discrimination so long as it was for “sincerely held” religious reasons. Theocrats have tried, unsuccessfully, to pass similar laws in four other states but there’s a chance Governor Brewer could sign this one if it passes the House. The video isn’t up yet but the floor session was interesting.
Democrats tried valiantly to amend the bill on the floor, including one attempt where Sen. Ableser, hilariously, got the Republicans on record as supporting the rights of Satanists to do their thing. Democrats also cited several possible ways the law could be used to discriminate against LGBT and other groups, which Sen. Yarbrough (R) dismissed as “goofy hypotheticals”.
Posted by Bob Lord One of our readers and frequent commenters, Bess, suggested that we just ignore ole Thuckarooskie. That would be the conventional approach. But I actually think we may be on to something, so let’s not stop just yet. In Thing Two About Thucky, I guessed that the Thuckster is a religious dude, … Read more
CROSS POSTED from the Arizona Eagletarian. In a comment to another news story about Huppenthal and his private school marketing scheme, Diana Murray, a Paradise Valley School District parent, says that just this evening, she received the robocall from the Arizona Superintendent of PUBLIC Schools directing her to the Goldwater Institute's website for more information about … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
What century are we living in? For the second time (Governor Jan Brewer vetoed this bill last year) the Tea-Publicans in the Arizona Senate have passed the religious bigotry bill, which would allow individuals and businesses to deny public services based upon their "sincerely held religious beliefs." This is state-sanctioned segregation, pure and simple.
The Arizona Republic reports, AZ Senate OKs bill boosting service refusal:
The Arizona Senate on Wednesday passed a bill backed by Republicans that expands the rights of people to assert their religious beliefs in refusing service to gays and others, a measure Democrats say will open the doors for discrimination and hurt the state economy.
The bill passed on a 17-13 party-line vote.
Democrats and civil rights groups opposed the bill that was pushed by social conservatives, saying it would allow discriminatory actions by businesses.