Every person deserves equal treatment and service regardless of their #gender and #sexualorientation. Arizona has made a significant effort to discourage gender bias. An equal opportunity Phoenix ordinance specifically bans discrimination against #LGBTQ individuals, but it would be better to have a law that has been legislated to serve the purpose of protecting the gender diverse. City legislators have attempted to amend the state’s non-discrimination laws many times over the years. When a bipartisan group of lawmakers including Arizona Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers introduced a bill in February of 2022 intended to strengthen protections, he said: “I do not anticipate a rose strewn path in front of me, but we are here honorably and working together.” Wise words indeed.
It is unfair for companies to limit the services they offer to someone based on the potential customer's sexual orientation. But in 2019, Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the owners of a custom stationery shop in Phoenix could do just that: they would be allowed to deny service to LGBTQ couples. The artists stated that their religious beliefs would be violated if they were forced to design invitation cards for gay weddings. How is this even an argument? They should treat everyone fairly, that is exactly what the law is supposed to ensure.
Before the case reached Arizona Supreme Court, Arizona Court of Appeal denied the stationer artists' plea that designing invitations for same-sex weddings would be a violation of their religious beliefs. Presiding Judge Lawrence F. Winthrop wrote in a 29-page opinion regarding that decision, “consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions, we recognize that a law allowing appellants to refuse service to customers based on sexual orientation would constitute a ‘grave and continuing harm.’” The law is supposed to offer equal protection for everybody, and no one should be able to treat others differently because of their sexual orientation, gender, religion, disability or race.
It is imperative that legislators continue working to pass laws that guarantee the LGBTQ community's protection against discrimination. Arizona Supreme Court's ruling overturned several lower-court decisions that supported protecting same-sex couples under Phoenix’s nondiscrimination ordinance. Arizona is not doing all it should for members of the LGBTQ community, considering the fact that 23 states that have specific laws against discrimination based on sexual orientation, and our state is not one of them.
Phoenix has made great progress in promoting equal rights over recent years, but we still have a long way to go.
