Republican Senator Phil Jensen of South Dakota has argued that businesses should be able to discriminate without legal repercussions.
Jensen, described as the state’s most conservative senator, lobbied for Senate Bill 128, which would allow employers to turn away the “undesirables,” including African Americans, gays, and anyone who offends the business owner’s religious beliefs.
“It’s a bill that protects the constitutional right to free association, the right to free speech, and private property rights,” he said.
Jensen argues that regardless of turning away unwanted customers based on race or religion is right or wrong, he wants the free market, or consumers, to decide, not the government:
[Image: ThinkProgress.org]
“If someone was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and they were running a little bakery for instance, the majority of us would find it detestable that they refuse to serve Blacks, and guess what? In a matter of weeks or so that business would shut down because no one is going to patronize them.”
The proposed bill died in the committee after LGBTQ advocates opposed it, and even Republicans characterized the bill as “a mean, nasty, hateful, vindictive.” It was defeated in multiple states, including Ohio, Georgia, Tenneessee, and Arizona. Missouri is the only state currently considering a similar bill.