A new law was recently passed in the Arizona Senate allowing people to choose to discriminate against homosexuals on the basis of religious beliefs. The bill is said to protect those who are substantially burdened by gays and lesbians. A similar bill failed to pass in four other states.

Senate Democratic Leader Anna Tovar said in a statement, “With the express consent of republicans in this legislature, many Arizonians will find themselves a part of a separate and unequal class under this law.”

The fact that this is still an issue in this day and age baffles me. A bill that allows individuals to discriminate on the basis of religious beliefs is not religious freedom. It is straight up bigotry. We are not living in the 1950s, creating a separate but unequal class for a minority group.

Religion should never be an excuse to be a jerk to people. The oppression that this bill allows is something that would harm a significant group of people and should not even be considered. The religious right needs to stop with these attacks on the LGBT community. With the way that Supreme Court rulings have been going, it appears that marriage equality is going to be inevitable nationwide.

There is no reason to fight against these rights, because discrimination based on sexual orientation soon will be old news. We are living in a world of progressive views, and as rights are finally being duly granted, we must not go back to these primitive ways of thinking about the LGBT community.

I can imagine that someday we are going to look back at laws like this and just be in awe over how ridiculous they are, much like we do today in regard to laws that limited the civil rights of racial minorities. This is the pesent reality, however, and we must do what we can to limit this discrimination and make a better world for ourselves. Bigotry toward the LGBT community is old news. Progress is happening, and incidents like this shouldn’t deter us from reaching true equality.

dhaynie@mavs.coloradomesa.edu