Arizona state legislator David Schapira introduced SB1462, an anti-bullying bill for schools, and today the measure passed the state Senate with bi-partisan support. That's saying something, since the GOP has a 2:1 majority in the Senate. According to an email I just received from Senator Schapira, who is the Senate Democratic Leader:
This bill would have an immediate impact on Arizona’s students and would be the most comprehensive anti-bullying legislation in state history.
SB1462 not only received support across the aisle in the legislature, it was backed by school superintendents, principals, students, and teachers (Schapira himself is a former teacher). All looked good, until Cathi Herrod stuck her hateful maw into the process. Herrod is a rapid homophobic, who, as President of the Center for Arizona Policy, attempts to block most legislation dealing with LGBT rights and women's reproductive issues. She usually succeeds, too, which unfortunately was the case with SB1462; it passed the Senate this morning, this afternoon it's dead.
Herrod labeled the "Arizona Safe Schools Act," the title of Schapira's bill, a "back-door gay bill" (yeah, she said that). She claimed the anti-bullying legislation is little more than propaganda for gay rights groups to push their "secret agenda," even though SB1462 does not mention sexual orientation at all.
In this Channel 12 video, reporter Brahm Resnik tries to interview Herrod; she walked away and refused an invitation to explain herself on camera.
WTF is going on in our state when one homophobic jerk, an unelected official who sees gay conspiracies in her sleep, can stop a bill that most legislators and educators support? And which legislator decided to pull the bill after Herrod showed up at the Capitol? As if we didn't know before, I guess we know who runs the show at the Arizona legislature: fundy bigots.