In an interview with Anderson Cooper on Monday, Arizona GOP state Senator and gubernatorial candidate Al Melvin defended Arizona’s SB 1062, the controversial the bill that would allow businesses to discriminate against gays based on religious beliefs.
Under Cooper’s questioning, Melvin, who repeatedly insisted the bill was to ensure religions freedom, and not a license to discriminate, could not offer a single example in which someone in Arizona had been discriminated against based on their religious beliefs.
“If you can’t cite in the entire history of Arizona, one case where religious freedom has been under attack — or even in the last year where it’s been under attack — is this really the most important thing for you to be working on?” asked Cooper.
Later in the interview, Melvin insisted that he didn’t know anybody in Arizona who would discriminate against a “fellow human being,” so claims by the bill’s opponents are unfounded.
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“Really? Discrimination doesn’t exist in Arizona?” Cooper asked incredulously.
“Maybe you ought to move to Arizona,” Melvin said. “We’re more people-friendly here, apparently.”
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