Gay marriage, now legal in Arizona, not recognized by Navajo Nation

Nathaniel George said that he knew he was going to marry his husband the first time he laid eyes on him more than eight years ago. Being Navajo and a Flagstaff resident, the chance of them getting legally married in Arizona or on the reservation wasn’t likely.

But George and his partner, George Almaraz, were among the first same-sex couples wed in Coconino County on Oct. 17, the day a federal judge overturned Arizona’s ban.

Though the fight for marriage equality has ended in Arizona, it continues for same-sex couples living in the Navajo Nation, which makes up more than 20 percent of the state but isn’t subject to its laws.

The Diné Marriage Act, passed in 2005 by the Navajo Nation Council, defines marriage as between a man and a woman. And current Navajo President Ben Shelly has said he’s against changing it.

But George said he believes this will change soon with same-sex marriage now legal in Arizona as well as New Mexico, which also has part of the reservation.

“All we can do is keep pushing forward and bringing it up with each president,” George said. “I feel it’s going to happen one day, and hopefully sooner than later. It would be nice to be married in the settings of where we live.”

Navajos who wished to get married to their same-sex partners before Oct. 17 had to go to other states like California. That’s what Jack Jackson Jr., a Navajo and former Arizona state senator, did when he and his husband got married six years ago.

With same-sex marriage now legal in Arizona, Jackson said he believes the issue of marriage equality has gained momentum in the Navajo Nation, which is electing a new president.

“There has been talk of people trying to make it an issue,” Jackson said. “What happened in Arizona – I think you’ll see that effort gain more traction. We’ll see what transpires in the months to come. I do think we’ll see something.”

Deswood Tome, an aide to Shelly, said there’s no term in Navajo for a gay union and that it’s not a big enough issue for the president to consider right now.

“It’s sacrilege to talk like that,” Tome said. “There’s not enough volition by those who are supporting same-sex marriage to take it to the chapter houses or Navajo Nation Council. I don’t think that is a priority of the leader of Navajo Nation. Economic prosperity, health, natural resources … these are priorities.”

Though Shelly doesn’t support gay marriage in the Navajo Nation, Tome said, he does support any Navajo’s choice to go elsewhere to get married.

“The president has said before that if individual Navajo people want to go into another state and get married, he will support individual choice,” Tome said. “But the law is the law today, and the president will uphold the law.”

Jackson said electing a new tribal president is one reason for his optimism. Shelly was ousted in the primary election, and one of the remaining candidates is former president Joe Shirley Jr., who vetoed the gay marriage ban in 2005 but was overridden by the Navajo Nation Council.

With Shirley running for president again and the opinions of same-sex marriage changing, Jackson said he doesn’t think the idea of marriage equality is too far-fetched for the Navajo Nation.

“People’s attitudes are changing,” he said. “Nobody thought we would be seeing it in Arizona and here we are.”

The Coalition for Navajo Equality in New Mexico has been rallying for a change since that state lifted its ban on same-sex marriage last December. The group’s founder, Alray Nelson, said that while the issue hasn’t been at the forefront even with same-sex marriage becoming legal in Arizona he expects it will be eventually will be as new tribal council members and a new president take office.

“Overall, our people are very compassionate and when – I say when – we do repeal the Diné Marriage Act, it will be very positive on Navajo families,” he said.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Says She Would Consider Bill Protecting Gays from Discrimination

Governor Jan Brewer, who four months ago was at the center of a contentious debate in her state surrounding a bill (SB1062) that would have allowed religion-based discrimination against gays (she vetoed it), told Capitol Media Services on Tuesday that she would consider expanding the state's civil rights laws to cover gay people if a bill were presented to her:

On Tuesday, Brewer said the question of whether Arizona should expand its anti-discrimination laws comes down to looking at the issue from the opposite perspective of SB1062: Is there a real problem with discrimination that drives a need for such a change? 

“That’s something we don’t see a lot of anymore, because of people’s changing patterns of discrimination,” she said. 

The governor suggested that state lawmakers might want to hold hearings on the issue.
“If it needs to be addressed, it needs to be debated in the Legislature,” Brewer said.
“Testimony needs to be presented,” she continued. “Let the representatives of the people who have been elected by the populace of the state of Arizona determine and get it up to the governor.” 

And what would she do with it? 

“I don’t know what would be in that bill or how they would write it,” Brewer said. “But I certainly would evaluate it and do what I thought was the right thing to do for the state.”

Gay Teen Speaks Out On Boy Scouts’ Decision to Not Rehire Him

A gay teen from Arizona is calling foul after the Boy Scouts of America officials won’t hire him this summer after he worked at the organization’s summer camp last year, NBC News reports.

Garrett Bryant, 19, says he came out as gay on Facebook recently and even though he intended to keep his sexuality private, the BSA won’t hire him back at the group’s Camp Geronimo, about 90 miles northeast of Phoenix, because of the organization’s policy that bars gay adults.

Bryant said he thought the post would be vague enough so he would not to get into trouble: After meeting his first boyfriend, the teen simply changed his status to "in a relationship," but a number of friends, who are not members of the BSA, left several congratulatory comments.

One comment read: "Oh, good for you,, man, what’s his name?"

A week after the post, Bryant, who claims he was poised to be rehired for the second summer in a row, said his fears came true when a camp leader told him he could no longer work at the site because of his Facebook posting references homosexuality. Full story here via Edge New England!

Would Rick Santorum Have Voted For Arizona's Anti-Gay 'Religious Freedom' Bill? 'Absolutely'

Rick Santorum sat down with the National Review after CPAC a few weeks ago to talk about Arizona's "religious freedom" bill that would have allowed the "sincerely held beliefs" of business owners to legally discriminate against homosexuals. When asked whether he would have signed the bill had Santorum been in Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's place, he emphatically said yes, surprising absolutely no one. Also, somehow Obamacare is the government infringing on people's freedom of religion. Also said during the interview, utterly lacking in self-awareness:

The trunk upon which all other branches of rights flow from is freedom of conscience. If you don't have freedom of conscience, then freedom of speech doesn't mean very much, freedom of assembly doesn't mean anything because you can't speak or do what you believe is right. And what we're seeing is the government increasingly encroaching upon this very sacrosanct area of our Constitution and using all sorts of excuses to suppress people's rights. 

In Vetoing Arizona's SB 1062, Jan Brewer Rejected a Bill That Her Own Staff Helped Write

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's staff helped write the anti-gay 'religious freedom' bill SB 1062, the AP reports:

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's staff worked with proponents of a bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse service to gays before the legislation was introduced in January, according to emails released by her office. The meetings between Brewer's legal counsel and policy director came as the Center for Arizona Policy tried to make changes to a bill that was vetoed last year to make it more palatable to the governor.

Of course, following outrage from corporate America and the public, Brewer vetoed this bill as well.

The AP adds:

Center for Arizona Policy president Cathi Herrod blamed the bill's fate on opponents who misrepresented what it does. "I believe the veto was politics at its worst,' Herrod said Monday, "The veto was of a bill that did not exist and the 1062 opponents were able to make the bill about something it was not."

She acknowledged she worked with Brewer's staff on the bill. "The governor's officer raised several questions about the language, we had thorough discussions about the language and changes were made to the language based on those discussions," she said...

Herrod's group wields great power among Republicans who control the Arizona Legislature. The social conservative group backs conservative Christian legislation and is opposed to gay marriage and abortion.

Wonderful, efficient use of taxpayer money.

Arizona Has Another Anti-Gay Bill Brewing

Now that the dust has settled from the demise of SB 1062, attention is turning to another bill pending in the state's legislature, The Republic reports:

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.”

Montenegro is an assistant pastor who says that he introduced the legislation because of cases in which churches in New Jersey and England were sued for refusing to perform gay weddings.

While troubling, it's not the religious institution aspect of the bill that's drawing the attention here but another part of it:

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.

When ‘Religious Liberty’ Was Used To Justify Racism Instead Of Homophobia

Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.”

– Judge Leon M. Bazile, January 6, 1959

The most remarkable thing about Arizona’s “License To Discriminate” bill is how quickly it became anathema, even among Republicans. Both 2008 GOP presidential candidate John McCain and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney called upon Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to veto this effort to protect businesses that want to discriminate against gay people. So did Arizona’s other senator, Jeff Flake. And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Indeed, three state senators who voted for this very bill urged Brewer to veto it before she finally did so on Wednesday, confessing that they “made a mistake” when they voted for it to become law.

The premise of the bill is that discrimination becomes acceptable so long as it is packaged inside a religious wrapper. As Arizona state Rep. Eddie Farnsworth (R) explained, lawmakers introduced it in response to instances where anti-gay business owners in other states were “punished for their religious beliefs” after they denied service to gay customers in violation of a state anti-discrimination law.

Yet, while LGBT Americans are the current target of this effort to repackage prejudice as “religious liberty,” they are hardly the first. To the contrary, as Wake Forest law Professor Michael Kent Curtis explained in a 2012 law review article, many segregationists justified racial bigotry on the very same grounds that religious conservatives now hope to justify anti-gay animus. In the words of one professor at a prominent Mississippi Baptist institution, “our Southern segregation way is the Christian way . . . . [God] was the original segregationist.”

God Of The Segregationists

Theodore Bilbo was one of Mississippi’s great demagogues. After two non-consecutive terms as governor, Bilbo won a U.S. Senate seat campaigning against “farmer murderers, corrupters of Southern womanhood, [skunks] who steal Gideon Bibles from hotel rooms” and a host of other, equally colorful foes. In a year where just 47 Mississippi voters cast a ballot for a communist candidate, Bilbo railed against a looming communist takeover of the state — and offered himself up as the solution to this red onslaught.

Arizona Tea Party Group Defends SB 1062: 'The First Amendment Protects Only The Practice Of The Christian Faith'

An Arizona-based Tea Party group is rallying around the state’s ‘right-to-discriminate’ legislation, SB 1062, by claiming that “the First Amendment protects only the practice of the Christian faith.”

The Williams Tea Party of Coconino County defended the anti-gay bill on its website, alleging that “the First Amendment protects only the practice of the Christian faith” and that the First Amendment “protects the right of those of the Christian faith to not serve those who are clearly abhorrent to that faith.”

The group also attacked a pastor who joined a protest against the bill, saying that the pastor must not have read the Bible.

The First Amendment protects only the practice of the Christian faith.

The Arizona Republic gathered the twenty, or so, protestors against S.B. 1062 close together for a photo to place on the front cover of their Thursday edition. The gathering together is an attempt to show that thousands of protestors came to their demonstration.

In the center of the photo they placed a guy who just happens to be able to afford the tab-collar clergy shirt with a sign about how religions should be against this legislation. I am not sure from which Internet “U” this person obtained his certification, but they certainly had no requirement to read the Bible.

The “columnists” at the Republic are in full swing typing out their indignation at the “discrimination.”

Of course, when you are dealing with a group of people who get their Constitutional training from the Salon and Russia Today web sites, it is difficult for them to understand that this legislation should never have been written. You see, there is already a law that protects the right of those of the Christian faith to not serve those who are clearly abhorrent to that faith.

It’s called the First Amendment.

…

The First Amendment was meant only to protect the Christian faith. When the founders spoke of religion, they meant the Christian religion. They did not have to keep saying the Christian religion because everyone knew that is what they were talking about.

George Takei’s Ripping Letter to AZ about ‘Turn Away the Gay’ Bill

George Takei is boldly going where no man has gone before as he vows to take on the state of Arizona to fight against the “Turn Way the Gay” bill if it is signed into law.

George wrote an eloquent, passionate yet threatening letter stating just what he and many gay rights supporters will do if this law goes forward.

Read his fantastic letter below:

“Dear Arizona,

Congratulations. You are now the first state actually to pass a bill permitting businesses–even those open to the public–to refuse to provide service to LGBT people based on an individual’s “sincerely held religious belief.” This “turn away the gay” bill enshrines discrimination into the law. Your taxi drivers can refuse to carry us. Your hotels can refuse to house us. And your restaurants can refuse to serve us.

Kansas tried to pass a similar law, but had the good sense to not let it come up for a vote. The quashing came only after the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and other traditional conservative groups came out strongly against the bill.

But not you, Arizona. You’re willing to ostracize and marginalize LGBT people to score political points with the extreme right of the Republican Party. You say this bill protects “religious freedom,” but no one is fooled. When I was younger, people used “God’s Will” as a reason to keep the races separate, too. Make no mistake, this is the new segregation, yours is a Jim Crow law, and you are about to make yourself ground zero.

Rocco's Little Chicago Pizzeria Serves Up Fantastic Response To Arizona's Anti-Gay Bill

An Arizona pizzeria served up a piping-hot plate of payback in response to a discriminatory bill that threatens the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

This week, both houses of the state legislature passed Senate Bill 1062, which gives Arizona business owners the right to deny service to gays and others on the basis of religious freedom. While conservatives contend the legislation is meant to prevent discrimination against the faithful, Arizona Democrats say it is plain old discrimination.

"SB 1062 permits discrimination under the guise of religious freedom," state Senate Democratic Leader Anna Tovar said after the bill passed. "With the express consent of Republicans in this Legislature, many Arizonans will find themselves members of a separate and unequal class under this law because of their sexual orientation."

Now, at least one small business is fighting back against the proposed measure with a bold declaration of its own.

On Thursday, Tucson-based restaurant Rocco's Little Chicago Pizzeria displayed a window sign directed at the very legislators who back the regulation. A photo of the sign was posted to Facebook, along with this message: "Funny how just being decent is starting to seem radical these says [sic]."

"A customer posted the sign to my Facebook feed, so I printed it up and laminated it," owner Anthony Rocco DiGrazia told The Huffington Post Friday in a Facebook message. "The response has been overwhelming and almost all positive from across the globe. I just want to serve dinner and own and work in a place I'm proud of. Opening the door to government-sanctioned discrimination, regardless of why, is a huge step in the wrong direction. Thanks for all the support."

The sign was created by Barbie Donovan from Tucson.

A message posted to the restaurant's Facebook on Friday read: "Hey, just want to say that all we want to do is cook you some dinner. Not trying to be anything but your neighborhood pizzeria. Thanks for the support!"

The bill has been sent to the desk of Gov. Jan Brewer (R), and she can either sign the bill into law or veto it. She has not yet taken a public position.

BREAKING: Arizona Legislature Approves Bill Allowing Businesses to Refuse Service to Gays

The Arizona House voted 33-27 today to give its approval to a bill already approved by the Arizona Senate that would allow businesses to refuse service to gays based on their religious beliefs.

The AP reports:

Opponents raised scenarios in which gay people in Arizona could be denied service at a restaurant or refused medical treatment if a business owner thought homosexuality was not in accordance with his religion. One lawmaker held up a sign that read "NO GAYS ALLOWED" in arguing what could happen if the law took effect, drawing a rebuke for violating House rules.

The bill is backed by the Center for Arizona Policy, a social conservative group that opposes abortion and gay marriage. The group says the proposal is needed to protect against increasingly activist federal courts and simply clarifies existing state law.

"We see a growing hostility toward religion," said Josh Kredit, legal counsel for the group.

All but three Republicans in the House backed the bill Thursday evening. The Senate passed the bill a day earlier on a straight party-line vote of 17-13.

The bill is similar to legislation pending in Ohio, Mississippi, Idaho, South Dakota, Tennessee and Oklahoma. It now heads to Governor Jan Brewer for signature.

Bill Allowing Religion-Based Discrimination Against Gays Introduced in Arizona

An Arizona lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow religious-based discrimination against gays, the Arizona Daily Star reports: 

 

SB 1062 would allow businesses sued in a civil case to claim they have a legal right to not provide service to an individual or group because it would “substantially burden’’ their freedom of religion.

Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, said the measure is aimed specifically at preventing what happened in New Mexico, where courts said a gay couple could sue a photographer who refused to take their wedding pictures. But Yarbrough said his legislation could also be interpreted to allow motels with vacant rooms to refuse to rent to gays.

Lawsuit Filed Challenging Arizona's Ban on Gay Marriage

Four Arizona couples filed a class action lawsuit on Monday challenging Arizona's ban on same-sex marriage, KTAR reports: 

 

The suit, which names Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Attorney General Tom Horne and County Clerk Michael Jeanes as defendants, was filed by attorneys Shawn and Ellen Aiken. It claimed that a voter-approved ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.

The lawsuit, if successful would allow gays to be married in the state and would also allow recognition of same-sex marriages from other states, KTAR adds:

In the suit, the couples describe various hardships caused by the state for not recognizing their relationship. Most focus on medical treatments, but some have to do with custody over adopted children.

"They, in turn, represent some 40,000 to 45,000 couples here in Arizona," said Aiken.

The suit also said that certain rights and benefits are denied to gay couples because the state does not recognize their marriage.

Some of the couples who filed the suit are legally married in other states.

"Two of the four couples that are plaintiffs were married in California," said Aiken. "As the law stands in Arizona today, their valid California marriage is unrecognized in Arizona."

In all, three male couples and one female couple filed. All are long-time Arizona residents. Two of the couples have adopted children.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Tries to Go to Latina Event, Told He’s Not Welcome and Refunded Money

Organizers from the Hispanic Women’s Corporation denied Arpaio’s office the opportunity to host a recruitment booth at their conference for Latina Professionals.

And he is truly surprised at the decision.

The Sheriff who says that he wants to bring more Latinos into his department has made the claim that voices of this ethnic group were “being silenced” by this action.

Arpaio accused the Hispanic organization in charge of the conference of ‘playing politics’ with his office and targeting him.

Ironically, a federal judge found the Maricopa County Sheriff guilty in May of this year of racially profiling Hispanics, a sizable demographic in Arizona and targeting them.

The self-proclaimed ‘America’s Toughest Sheriff’ has a history of discriminating against the Latino community, even after his office lost that authority in 2009.

And Arpaio is also a seminal birther, challenging President Obama on his citizenship status. Good thing Barack Obama wasn’t driving through Maricopa County a decade ago. Hypothetically speaking.

Group Launches Campaign to Put Marriage Equality on 2014 Arizona Ballot

A campaign has been launched in Arizona to put marriage equality before the voters in 2014, Echo reports: 

If it's successful, the Arizona Equal Marriage campaign organized by a Libertarian and a Republican could put Arizona in line to be one of the next states to approve same-sex marriage.

But first, the effort would need to collect at least 259,213 signatures of voters registered in Arizona to put the issue on the ballot in the Nov. 4, 2014, general election. To launch the effort, the initiative was filed with the Arizona Secretary of State's office on June 17.

Warren Meyer, a Phoenix small business owner, Libertarian blogger and author, and Erin Ogletree Simpson, a retired Tucson lawyer and chair of the Arizona Log Cabin Republicans, are spearheading the campaign in anticipation that the Supreme Court will return the issue of marriage equality to the states, Echo adds:

Meyer and Ogletree Simpson said their goal is to gather at least 400,000 to ensure that their proposal qualifies for the ballot. They said signatures will be gathered by volunteer and paid workers.

The initiative would alter the language of an amendment to the state Constitution approved by voters in 2008, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman. The new language would define marriage as between two people.

The initiative also proposes adding a paragraph that says religious organizations would not be required to officiate any particular marriage — language that the initiative's supporters said protects religious freedoms.

More at Echo mag....