Former Rep. Barney Frank, investor Steve Case, actor George Takei and CNN's LZ Granderson have all joined the voices urging Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's to veto Senate Bill 1062 which would give license to discriminate and refuse to do business with anyone, particularly LGBT people.
Frank, who is openly gay, appeared on CNBC Asia and called the bill "stupid."
Case, who is Chairman of Case Foundation and Revolution (LivingSocial, Zipcar, Exclusive Resorts, Everyday Health, FedBid, Miraval, etc), spoke out on Twitter. Case, whose resort Miraval is located in Tuscon, Ariz., tweeted:
As the owner of America’s #1 spa resort, @Miraval (located in Tucson), I urge @GovBrewer to veto #SB1062. @Miraval welcomes all.
— Steve Case (@SteveCase) February 26, 2014
Actor and LGBT advocate George Takei appeared on MSNBC's Ronan Farrow Daily and told host Ronan Farrow, "The health of the economy is what politicians are supposed to protect. Not this phony religious freedom. That argument is just a veil over personal prejudice and you cannot write personal prejudice into civil law and you certainly cannot write religious values into civil law. And so these legislators don't know the constitution. They apparently don't listen either because in the legislature they were told that this is going to do serious damage and stain the reputation of a beautiful state." You can watch the video below:
During a discussion about the bill on CNN's Crossfire, former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli claimed host Van Jones was being "utterly inaccurate" in describing the bill as discriminatory. This caused fellow guest LZ Granderson to set the record straight on the bill. Check out the video below:
GLAAD's President, Sarah Kate Ellis, was on CNN recently to talk about Arizona's SB 1062. Ellis responded to Anderson Cooper's interview with Arizona State Senator Al Melvin, in which Melvin claimed, among other things, that discrimination has never taken place in Arizona.
"Being anti-LGBT is bad for business," Ellis told CNN's Carol Costello. "Apple, Marriott, American Airlines – over 80 corporations have spoken out and urged [Arizona] Governor [Jan] Brewer to veto this bill."
Others who have spoken out against the bill include U.S. Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake. Senator McCain told CNN's Chris Cuomo that "This [bill] is going to hurt the state of Arizona's economy and, frankly, our image, so I hope that the Governor of Arizona will veto this and we will move on."
GLAAD is also urging equality supporters to voice their opinions on Facebook and Twitter by sharing the graphic featured at the top of this post urging Gov. Brewer to veto the bill
"Governor Brewer now stands at a career-defining precipice," says Ellis. "By signing this bill into law, she would be turning her back on countless Arizonans, who simply want to live the lives they love without fear of discrimination. Businesses won't tolerate this bill; Arizonans won't tolerate this bill; and America won't tolerate this bill. Governor Brewer must do what's right and veto SB 1062."