Despite her history of backing measures on the leading edge of the conservative agenda (such as the controversial immigration law S.B. 1070, later invalidated in part by the Supreme Court), Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer yesterday vetoed a bill that would have permitted discrimination against LGBT customers by business owners who cited religious reasons for doing so. As the Washington Post explains, despite the bill's appeal to the conservative base, it drew opposition from business groups within the state, and Arizona's two Republican senators urged the governor to veto it.
This marks the latest in the string of victories for LGBT rights; in the last month and a half, federal district courts have struck down bans on same-sex marriage in Virginia, Oklahoma, and Texas. What makes yesterday's development particularly notable is that it is a political victory, not a judicial one, in a conservative state.
