HUFFINGTON
05.19.13
LOVE AND HATE
understand the religious objection
to gay marriage. I do. But I just
didn’t expect so much anger and
hate to come from this.”
Badal, the city attorney, and
the city council then rewrote the
ordinance, not to revoke or soften
any of the legal rights the town
intends to grant, but to make sure
there’s no possibility the ordinance could be struck down in
court for overreaching. “I think
this is a conversation we need to
have,” Badal says. It’s about dignity. It’s one of the last major civil
rights battles.”
Badal has already received support from officials in the cities listed above, as well as from Phoenix
Mayor Greg Stanton. Arizona may
be home to immigration hawks
“It can really only be good for
Bisbee. We’ll get some notoriety,
publicity and tourism. We’ll get
goodwill. I don’t see a downside
to playing this out.”
like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe
Arpaio, and its legislature may be
among the most conservative in
the country, but there’s also some
evidence that the state is more
tolerant on social issues than the
reputation of its politicians.
A poll taken in May of last year,
for example, found that just under
80 percent of Arizonans (including 63 percent of Republicans)
support some form of legal recognition for same-sex couples. Another poll taken in March found
that 63 percent of the state’s
The road to
Bisbee, about
80 miles
southeast of
Tucson.