CEO DATELINE - ASAE head decries proposed Texas laws as discriminatory
CEO DATELINE - ASAE head decries proposed Texas laws as discriminatory
- March 28, 2019 |
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Walt Williams
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ASAE CEO John Graham joined business leaders in Austin, Texas, Wednesday to decry a slate of proposed laws opponents say would discriminate against LGBTQ individuals, the Associated Press reported.
The Texas Legislature is currently considering several measures that would allow businesses and individuals to refuse service to gay or transgender people based on their religious beliefs. For example, one bill would allow medical professionals to deny providing nonemergency treatment to LGBTQ individuals, according to the AP. Another bill would prevent state licensing boards from denying licenses because someone refuses to provide treatment based on a "sincerely held religious belief."
The proposed laws come two years after business leaders joined together to defeat a proposed Texas "bathroom bill" that would have penalized transgender people for using public restrooms not corresponding to their sex at the time of birth. Many of the same businesses have joined together again to urge state lawmakers to reject the current proposals, including Apple, IBM and Amazon.
"We will continue to oppose any unnecessary, discriminatory, and divisive measures that would damage Texas' reputation and create problems for our employees and their families," the businesses said in an open letter to lawmakers.
ASAE is among the opponents. Graham spoke out against the laws during a press conference at the state capitol, saying that enacting the bills could have severe economic consequences in terms of lost jobs and event bookings, the AP reported.
"And that's exactly what happened in North Carolina when they passed that bill and they lost billions of dollars and they're still paying that price," he said, referring to the "bathroom bill" enacted by that state's lawmakers in 2016. http://bit.ly/2uwB9tp
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