Not content with letting Indiana collect all of America's scorn onto itself, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a revised "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" into law late this afternoon. The revisions bring the state RFRA into closer line with the federal version; Hutchinson had
called on the legislature to revise
the original law after
Walmart and other big Arkansas employers asked for a veto of the legislation.
While the presumed hope is that the changes will quell the anger of citizens (and, rather more importantly, corporations) who have voiced strong objections to the RFRA, it may or may not work. From the Human Rights Campaign:
“The fact remains that the only way to ensure LGBT Arkansans are treated equally under state law is to add explicit protections for them,” said a statement issued by Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign. “Moving forward, Arkansas should explicitly clarify that the RFRA cannot be used to undermine non-discrimination protections at any level. In addition, all states and the federal government should provide explicit non-discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, while well-intentioned, has been used in recent years to justify problematic behavior that harms third parties. We remain concerned that the federal RFRA and bills modeled after it may be used to undermine protections for the LGBT community and other minority groups.”