Both Marriott Hotels and American Airlines have written letters to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer requesting that she veto the pending anti-gay legislation SB 1062. According to The Huffington Post, the bill, which passed both houses of the state legislature last week, would allow businesses to refuse to serve same-sex couples on the grounds of “religious freedom.” The bill has made a lot of people angry and can be bad for business.
Bloomberg Business week reports that the California-based company, Apple Inc., which is opening a facility this month in Mesa, Arizona and employing 700 people, would bring 2,000 new jobs to the state, is reportedly making a material used to strengthen iPhone screens, has also asked Governor Jan Brewer to kill the bill.
John McCain, Arizona’s senior U.S. Senator has stated that it will “hurt the state of Arizona’s economy and, frankly, our image,” Politico notes.
Marriott Hotels commented in a statement that the bill “would have profound negative impacts on the hospitality industry on the Arizona and on the state’s overall economic climate for years to come, “and American Airlines according to NBC News reported that “Our economy thrives best when the doors of commerce are open to all. This bill sends the wrong message.”
American Airlines wrote in a separate letter saying that, the law would “jeopardize” Arizona’s economic recovery by “reducing the desire of businesses to locate to Arizona,” according to the Huffington Post.
Governor Jan Brewer has until Saturday morning to sign or veto the bill. Bloomberg has reported that Arizona’s bill is similar to that of others proposed in Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Mississippi and Kansas in response to the gay-marriage movement. Seventeen states, plus the District of Columbia, have already legalized the practice.
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Image Credit: www.huffingtonpost.com