White House: Missouri Anti-Gay Bill ‘Inconsistent With Justice, Fairness, Equality’

White House Press Secretary Speaks on Bill Democrats Filibustered for 39 Hours

The White House says that a Missouri bill that lets individuals, organizations and businesses discriminate against same-sex couples sounds “inconsistent” with fairness and equality.

After state Democratic senators spent more than 39 hours filibustering the measure, which would write anti-gay discrimination into the Missouri constitution, state senate Republicans forced a vote and passed the measure Wednesday morning. 

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, a Missouri native, told Chris Johnson of the Washington Blade that he has not seen the legislation but based on his description, “it certainly sounds as if that particular bill would be inconsistent with the values of justice and fairness and equality that this administration has long pursued.”

Earnest also told Johnson, the Blade’s Chief Political & White House Reporter, that “the President is quite proud of how over the last seven years we sought to advance equality in this country, and it’d be a shame if a bill like the one that you described were to deal that a setback.”

SJR39 would allow anyone to cite their “sincere religious beliefs” as reason to decline serving a same-sex couple or LGBT person. Not only wedding cake bakers, photographers, and florists, the bill extends to restaurants and hotels, stores, and a vast array of other areas of public accommodation.

Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon have all tweeted support for the Democratic senators’ opposition to the measure.

The bill requires one more vote in the Senate before it is sent to the House, where it is expected to pass. The governor does not sign it, as it places the measure on the ballot, where voters will decide if it should pass into law.

Here’s Josh Earnest:

 

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Image: Screenshot via Chris Johnson/YouTube