Arkansas House panel advances ‘religious freedom’ bill cast as anti-LGBT

Hutchinson had expressed reservations about unintended consequences about an earlier version of the bill, but said changes have addressed those concerns.

Sexual orientation and gender identity are not included in Arkansas’ anti-discrimination protections. Last month, Hutchinson allowed a measure to go into law that prevented local governments from including such protections in their anti-discrimination ordinances.

Opponents have called the amendments little more than cosmetic changes and have stepped up their protests against the measure, holding rallies at the Capitol and outside the governor’s mansion.

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy group, has run ads in Silicon Valley targeting technology firms Hutchinson hopes to attract to the state, and Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post over the weekend opposing Arkansas and Indiana’s measures.

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The protesters included Rita and Pam Jernigan, the lead plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging Arkansas’ gay marriage ban. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker struck down an amendment and state law defining marriage as between a man and a woman, but suspended her ruling while it’s on appeal.

“I believe that many people will want to flee the state and many people will want to avoid our state,” Rita Jernigan said. “I think it will hit us hard everywhere. I feel like we’re moving backwards rather than being a progressive state.”