Arizona Legislature Sends ‘Anti-gay’ Bill to Republican Governor Jan Brewer

It is unclear if Arizona governor Jan Brewer will sign into law
a bill allowing businesses and others to deny service to gays.

THE GUARDIAN: Bill would allow businesses, churches and individuals to cite religion as reason for denying service to gay people

The Arizona legislature gave final approval to legislation that allows business owners asserting their religious beliefs to refuse service to gays, drawing backlash from Democrats who called the proposal “state-sanctioned discrimination” and an embarrassment.

The 33-27 vote by the House Thursday evening sends the legislation to Republican Governor Jan Brewer and puts Arizona back at the forefront of a polarizing piece of legislation four years after the state enacted an immigration crackdown that caused a national furor.

Similar religious protection legislation has been introduced in Ohio, Mississippi, Idaho, South Dakota, Tennessee and Oklahoma, but Arizona’s plan is the only one that has passed. The efforts are stalled in Idaho, Ohio and Kansas.

Republicans stressed that the bill is about protecting religious freedom and not discrimination. They frequently cited the case of a New Mexico photographer who was sued after refusing to take wedding pictures of a gay couple and said Arizona needs a law to protect people in the state from heavy-handed actions by courts and law enforcement. » | Associated Press in Phoenix | Friday, February 21, 2014

THE GUARDIAN: Kansas Republican leaders get cold feet over 'anti-gay' bill: Bill approved by Kansas house would give religious individuals and groups the right to deny services to same-sex couples » | Ed Pilkington in New York | Friday, February 14, 2014

Gay No Go: Kansas Approves Bill Discriminating Against Same-sex Couples

A decision by the Kansas House of Representatives to pass a bill which would have allowed the legal discrimination of gay couples was met with outrage across the U.S. A somewhat embarrassed state Senate now plans to sink the legislation which would have allowed people to use their religious beliefs to openly deny services, care or employment to same-sex couples. RT's Gayane Chichakyan reports.

Koch Brothers Threaten to Fire Employees If Obama Wins

RT.COM: The billionaire Koch brothers this month threatened to fire many of their more than 50,000 employees if they dare to vote for President Obama or any other Democrats in the 2012 elections.

The Kansas-based Koch brothers, who run a multi-national group of companies called the Koch Industries, sent a voter information packet to 45,000 of its Georgia Pacific subsidiary this month, threatening that “many of our more than 50,000 US employees and contractors may suffer the consequences” if they vote for Democrats. The packet also included an op-ed by David Koch endorsing Mitt Romney and one by Charles Koch slamming Obama, reported the monthly magazine, In These Times. The brothers also warned that electing Democrats would also lead to other consequences, including higher gasoline prices, runaway inflation and “other ills.”

“This is true regardless of what your political affiliation might be,” reads the cover letter to the packet, written by Koch Industries President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Robertson. » | Monday, October 15, 2012

Kansas Gov. Signs Measure Blocking Islamic Law

FOX NEWS: Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a law aimed at keeping the state's courts or government agencies from basing decisions on Islamic or other foreign legal codes, and a national Muslim group's spokesman said Friday that a court challenge is likely.

The new law, taking effect July 1, doesn't specifically mention Shariah law, which broadly refers to codes within the Islamic legal system. Instead, it says courts, administrative agencies or state tribunals can't base rulings on any foreign law or legal system that would not grant the parties the same rights guaranteed by state and U.S. constitutions.

"This bill should provide protection for Kansas citizens from the application of foreign laws," said Stephen Gele, spokesman for the American Public Policy Alliance, a Michigan group promoting model legislation similar to the new Kansas law. "The bill does not read, in any way, to be discriminatory against any religion."

But supporters have worried specifically about Shariah law being applied in Kansas court cases, and the alliance says on its website that it wants to protect Americans' freedoms from "infiltration" by foreign laws and legal doctrines, "especially Islamic Shariah Law." » | Associated Press | Saturday, May 26, 2012

Kansas Lawmakers Pass Effective Ban on Islamic Law
WSBT.COM: KANSAS CITY, Kansas (Reuters) - Kansas lawmakers have passed legislation intended to prevent the state courts or agencies from using Islamic or other non-U.S. laws in making decisions, a measure critics have blasted as an embarrassment to the state.

The legislation, which passed 33-3 in the state Senate on Friday and 120-0 previously in the House, is widely known in Kansas as the "Sharia bill," because the perceived goal of supporters is to keep Islamic code from being recognized in Kansas.

The bill was sent to Republican Governor Sam Brownback, who has not indicated whether he will sign it.

In interviews on Saturday, a supporter of the bill said it reassured foreigners in Kansas that state laws and the U.S. Constitution will protect them. But an opponent said the bill's real purpose is to hold Islam out for ridicule. » | Kevin Murphy | Reuters | Saturday, May 12, 2012

AT&T to Pay Muslim Woman $5m in Harassment Case
THE KANSAS CITY STAR: KANSAS CITY, MO. -- A former Kansas City woman who converted to Islam in 2005 said she was harassed for years at AT&T, and that the abuse boiled over in 2008 when her boss snatched her head scarf and exposed her hair.

A Jackson County jury on Thursday awarded Susann Bashir $5 million in punitive damages in her discrimination lawsuit, along with $120,000 in lost wages and other actual damages.

The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/JKWbqR) reported Saturday the award appears to be the largest jury verdict for a workplace discrimination case in Missouri history.

Bashir said in court documents that her work environment became hostile immediately after she converted, with her co-workers making harassing comments about her religion and referring to her hijab as "that thing on her head."

"I was shocked. I thought, 'What is going on?'" she told the newspaper. "Nobody ever cared what I wore before. Nobody ever cared what religion I was before."

Bashir worked at AT&T's office in Kansas City for 10 years as a fiber optics network builder before being fired from her $70,000-a-year job. She claimed she endured religious discrimination nearly every day of the final three years she worked there, including being asked if she was going to blow up the building and being called a "towelhead" and a terrorist.

AT&T said Friday it disagrees with the verdict and plans to appeal. » | The Associated Press | Saturday, May 05, 2012

No Respite for US from Deadly Tornadoes
At least six dead as fresh tornadoes hit Oklahoma and Kansas, two days after 122 were killed in city of Joplin

Violent Thunderstorms Kill 8 in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas
THE KANSAS CITY STAR: Violent storms that swept through a swath of the central U.S. killed at least eight people in three states, toppling trees, ripping up homes and crushing cars.

The high-powered storms arrived as forecast, just days after a massive tornado tore through the southwest Missouri town of Joplin and killed 122 people. After killing two people in Kansas and five in Oklahoma, they continued their trek east into Arkansas.

Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokesman Tommy Jackson says at least one person died after a tornado ripped through the Arkansas community of Denning early Wednesday. There weren't any immediate details about how the person died.

Hours earlier, several tornadoes struck Oklahoma City and its suburbs during the Tuesday night rush hour, killing at least five people and injuring at least 60 others, including three children who were in critical condition, authorities said. » | Kristi Eaton | Associated Press | Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Anti-gay US Christians Theaten to Picket London Primary School
THE GUARDIAN: Kansas fundamentalists plan protest against lessons about homosexual relationships

Photo of Fred Phelps, the US anti-“fag” fundamentalist, courtesy of The Guardian
A group of American Christian fundamentalists whose slogan is "God hates fags" is threatening to picket an east London primary school over its anti-homophobia work.

A row broke out at George Tomlinson primary school in Waltham Forest, north-east London, earlier this month when some parents pulled their children out of lessons planned for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender history month. The school used books on homosexual relationships, in one case between two male penguins.

Members of the Westboro Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas – which has been the subject of a Louis Theroux television exposé – say they will picket the school next Friday afternoon.

The group's founder, Reverend Fred Phelps, was barred from entering Britain last month to stop him spreading "extremism and hatred". He had intended to picket a play about a homophobic killing.

A message on the group's website announcing their plans said: "God hates the UK and the Tomlinson school fag tyranny, where conscientious parents face religious persecution for withdrawing their children from lessons on lying fag so-called history." >>> Polly Curtis, Education Editor | Friday, March 20, 2009

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