On Feb. 26, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewster finally took a stand for equal rights in her state.  By vetoing SB 1062, Brewster prevented the further legalization of blatant discrimination and actually acknowledged that all humans have basic rights.

It was an unprecedented step for both Arizona and Brewster.

SB 1062 was a bill passed by state legislation that would have allowed businesses to deny service to homosexuals if they felt their religious rights were being violated.  Despite the obvious discriminatory undertones, this bill quickly passed through the GOP-controlled Senate and House of Arizona.

While nobody is going to count Arizona among liberal states any time soon, the veto of SB 1062 was an important step in the right direction.  Brewster acted in direct opposition of the conservative legislation by making the unquestionably right decision.

Understandably, the nature of the bill resulted in heavy backlash from gay rights groups, local businesses and even major corporations.  Companies such as Apple and American Airlines publicly expressed their opposition of the bill.  Local companies were also concerned that the passage of the bill would cost them customers.

While it’s alarming that no objections were made to the fact that the bill openly attempted to deny homosexuals service on the broadest possible basis, it’s a consolation that Brewster ended up knocking it down.  She admitted herself that “the bill is broadly worded, and could result in unintended and negative consequences,” according to a Feb. 26 Washington Post article.

Supporters of the bill claim that Brewster’s decision to veto the bill implies the advocacy of religious discrimination.  Tony Perkins, head of The Family Research Council, a conservative group, said, “This bill…bars government discrimination against religious exercise, so by vetoing this bill Gov. Brewer is saying she supports government discrimination against people’s religious freedoms,” the Washington Post also reported.

Arizona’s Senate and House apparently, and inexplicably, agreed with Perkins and supported the bill through the entire process.  The saturation of GOP officials in office in Arizona allowed SB1062 to pass unscathed.  Only three House Republicans voted against it and it still passed easily.

What’s troublesome is that despite Brewster’s ultimate veto, this bill garnered significant support from the majority of public officials in Arizona. Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) was part of a significant minority of Republicans that opposed it. Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, tweeted at Brewster and said that vetoing SB1062 was “right.”

McCain and Romney, the last two Republican presidential candidates, were more liberal about this bill than the rest of Arizona’s public officials. Combining this reality along with the persistence of the Tea Party, one has to worry about how far to the right the GOP will slide in the future.

If it becomes common practice for the Republican Party to obstruct basic human rights, it will undeniably be detrimental to the country as a whole.  Brewster did the right thing by vetoing SB1062, but the amount of support the bill had until that point is still very much a cause for concern.

Arizona remains one of the most extremely conservative states in the union. However, if these kinds of bills and beliefs continue to gain traction, we may see widespread discrimination comparable to the South, pre-Civil Rights Movement.

In a time where progress is a premium, Arizona’s state legislature appears to be trying to pull the Republican Party backwards socially.  For the sake of America, hopefully they won’t succeed.

Chris Piemonte is a senior political philosophy major. He can be reached at [email protected].

Published on March 4, 2014 at 1:00 am