Kentucky bill reaches way beyond the right to refuse services

By Rob Howard
Associate Editor

Confusion reigns in Kentucky over a Senate bill that the sponsor says is responding to the case of a Christian t-shirt company’s refusal to print gay pride t-shirts. The AP reported today, “The bill comes after the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission ordered a Christian T-shirt company to get diversity training for refusing to print shirts for a gay pride festival. A state judge overturned the order, but an appeals court is reviewing the case.”

Most national reporting on the Kentucky bill has focused on the t-shirt incident as if it were recent, but in fact, the case arose in 2014. As the AP noted, the case continues on appeal.

But deeper reporting on the measure suggests that it goes well beyond whether businesses must provide a service that offends their religious convictions.

JoeMyGod.com reported Thursday that Fairness Kentucky said, “A ‘License to Discriminate’ bill that would sanction discrimination against LGBT Kentuckians passed out of the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee this morning. Senate Bill 180, introduced by Senator Albert Robinson of London, seeks to gut local LGBT Fairness Ordinances passed by eight Kentucky cities. Those cities include Covington, Danville, the State Capital Frankfort, Lexington, Louisville, Midway, Morehead, and the small Appalachian town of Vicco.

“’Senate Bill 180 is nothing but a license to discriminate,’ shared Fairness Campaign director Chris Hartman. ‘This legislation seeks to undo the hard work of eight Kentucky cities that chose to protect all their residents from discrimination. These cities, like nearly 200 local employers in the Kentucky Competitive Workforce Coalition, know that discrimination is bad for business. Should the Kentucky General Assembly pass this license to discriminate, it will have untold negative effects on our commonwealth’s tourism, economics, and business development.’”

The Lexington Herald-Leader expanded on coverage of the senate action, giving more of Hartman’s remarks: “’It’s a clear attack on the eight cities that passed anti-discrimination fairness ordinances to protect LGBT people,’ said Chris Hartman, director of the Louisville-based Fairness Campaign. ‘They made it crystal clear during the committee hearing that that’s what their aims are. So we’ll be doing everything we can to halt the progress of this legislation.’”

“There will be a continued backlash in the General Assembly as some people are frightened by the progress the LGBT community is making legally and socially, Hartman said.

“’When folks lose ground, they attack more fiercely. That’s what we’re seeing here,’ he said.”

According to the Herald-Leader, “If Robinson’s bill is passed by the Republican-led Senate, it will cross the Capitol to the Democratic-led House. On Thursday, House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said he hasn’t heard any of his members discuss the bill.

“’We’ll give it a full and fair hearing, I’m sure, as we do all Senate bills,’ Stumbo said.”

The AP concluded its coverage, giving a wider view of similar actions in other states, writing, “The bill is the latest effort of lawmakers in some states to react to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last summer that effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. The Georgia legislature is considering similar legislation, and the Missouri legislature is considering amending its state constitution to protect businesses that decline to provide goods or services for same-sex marriage ceremonies or celebrations.”

Associated Press contributed to the content of this story.

The Gayly – February 26, 2016 @ 9 a.m.