Arkansas Government Nondiscrimination Act (HB 2232)

HB 2232 would create government protections for sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions for people, religious organizations, and private associations. The bill would allow public and private businesses to legally refuse services or use of facilities to LGBTQ people based on the owner’s religious belief.

HB 2232 states that the sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions protected by this act are the belief or conviction that:

• Marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman; or
• The terms “male” and “female”, or “man” and “woman”, refer to a person’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at the time of birth.

The bill would prohibit the state from taking any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially, on the basis that the person believes, speaks, or acts in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction.

The bill specifies what a discriminatory or adverse action means when taken by the state against such a person.

The bill provides that a person may assert a violation of the bill as a cause of action in any judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or any other appropriate relief.

Related Legislation

Based on model legislation drafted by the Family Research Council.

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People

Organizations

• Family Research Council — Drafted Model Law