By Laura Meckler And Ana Campoy
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday demanded changes to
"religious freedom" legislation that state lawmakers had just this
week approved overwhelmingly, the latest turn in a cultural clash
over whether such laws protect people of faith or open the door to
discrimination against gays and lesbians.
The step-back by the Republican came as Indiana lawmakers worked
to quell criticism from companies and some groups over a similar
law that GOP Gov. Mike Pence signed last week. The sudden attention
on these laws, which are surfacing in several other states and
becoming an issue in the 2016 presidential race, reflects the
collision of two forces: a movement seeking more legal protections
for religious people and an accelerating drive to advance gay
rights.
"The issue has become divisive, because our nation remains split
on how to balance the diversity of our culture with the traditions
and firmly held religious convictions," Mr. Hutchinson said
Wednesday. He said the language of the bill must make clear that it
isn't the intent of Arkansas to discriminate.
Also Wednesday, in North Carolina, the Republican speaker of the
House, Tim Moore, said a similar bill was on hold in light of the
backlash from businesses elsewhere. Mr. Moore said the state must
ensure that it protects a person's right to religious beliefs
without sanctioning discrimination. "I don't want to see us go down
a road that causes us issues with job development and recruitment,"
he said.
Those seeking religious protections say that while gays and
lesbians have won greater acceptance, it is religious people who
now face discrimination. They see their cause as gaining urgency as
court decisions have favored the rights of gay and lesbian couples
to wed.
Their political response, in part, has been to promote the
so-called religious-freedom legislation at the state level. They
say, for instance, that a band should be allowed to decline to
perform at a gay wedding, because of religious objections, without
fear of legal retribution.
"Religious freedom and religious liberty are increasingly
marginalized and under assault in America," said Russell Moore,
president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty
Commission.
Some 20 states have laws known as Religious Freedom Restoration
Acts, most of which say, in effect, that any government
infringement on a person's religion would face strict scrutiny from
courts.
But some legal experts say the Indiana and Arkansas measures are
more expansive than those other laws. The Arkansas bill, for
example, has a broader definition of religious exercise and allows
those who claim to have been grieved to sue any entity under the
law, even if that entity isn't part of government.
People on both sides of the gay-rights issue anticipate that by
June, the U.S. Supreme Court will declare a constitutional right to
same-sex marriage that would legalize the unions in every state. In
the meantime, gay-rights groups say the push-back against state
measures will embolden them to push for antidiscrimination laws at
the state and federal levels.
"By any stretch of the imagination we are now on the offensive
here, whereas just a few days ago we were playing defense," said
Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington advocacy
group.
Nearly half the states have some sort of legal protections for
gays and lesbians. As a practical matter, if states don't have
these laws, businesses and individuals are free to discriminate on
the basis of sexual orientation, even without a religious-freedom
law. Neither Indiana nor Arkansas prohibits discrimination, though
a handful of cities and counties in Indiana do.
In states that protect gays and lesbians from discrimination, it
is unlikely that a religious-freedom law would make it possible to
deny employment or services based on sexual orientation.
The state laws have drawn strong opposition from many
corporations, which typically steer clear of contentious social
issues. The chief executive of Arkansas's own Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
called on the governor to veto that state's bill, while companies
including Gap Inc.,Levi Strauss & Co. and Nike Inc. have
opposed either the Arkansas or Indiana measure.
Retailers in particular have long tried to stay out of political
issues. But many executives say corporate America largely sees the
religious-freedom laws as a civil-rights issue that doesn't have
two sides. "Any form of discrimination is wrong," said Jay Stein,
chief executive of Stein Mart Inc., a discount retailer based in
Jacksonville, Fla.
The corporate response has drawn a backlash from some
conservatives. On Wednesday, one leading social conservative, Gary
Bauer, emailed some 200,000 supporters to slam "corporate insiders"
who oppose these laws and to suggest their political alliance with
social conservatives is at risk.
Meanwhile, on the national level, religious conservatives are
seeking to have their views heard in the Republican presidential
contest, where their political clout is significant. Sen. Ted Cruz
(R., Texas), who has said he is running in 2016, has fully endorsed
the Indiana law. "Today we are facing a concerted assault on the
First Amendment, on the right of every American to seek out and
worship God," he said.
Hillary Clinton, the Democrats' presumed 2016 front-runner,
wrote Wednesday on Twitter that the Indiana and Arkansas laws go
"beyond protecting religion."
Write to Laura Meckler at laura.meckler@wsj.com and Ana Campoy
at ana.campoy@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Apple, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US0378331005
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires