Protesters return to Capitol as HB1228 vote nears

Geneva Gernold, right, and Robin Allen make signs opposing House Bill 1228 Tuesday in the state Capitol.
Geneva Gernold, right, and Robin Allen make signs opposing House Bill 1228 Tuesday in the state Capitol.

Protesters for the second day in a row lined the stairs and halls outside the Arkansas House chamber Tuesday afternoon as a final vote on House Bill 1228 drew near.

Rep. Bob Ballinger, lead sponsor of the bill known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, said he would run the bill after the House convenes at 1:30 p.m. If it passes, HB1228 would go to the desk of Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has said he will sign it.

Dozens of protesters waved signs outside the House chamber beginning about an hour-and-a-half before the House was to meet.

Among them were Robin Allen, a 32-year-old transgender woman from Malvern who said HB1228 would cause real problems if it becomes law and would lead to discrimination against gay and transgender people.

"This is going to hurt a lot of people I care about," Allen said as she and 48-year-old Geneva Gernold made anti-HB1228 signs on the marble floors of the Capitol rotunda.

Gernold, a nursing assistant, said she worried that HB1228 could be used by a doctor or emergency responder who chose not to treat an injured gay person because of religious beliefs.

"It just doesn't make sense," she said of the bill. "It can't be right."

Jacqui Whitehead, a 53-year-old Sunday School teacher from North Little Rock, said it's upsetting that the law is being promoted "in the name of Christianity."

"I think it's a law to discriminate," she said. "We have religious rights. We've always had religious rights. This has nothing to do with religious rights."

Ballinger said he was "disappointed" in signs and protesters suggesting the bill was hateful.

"The reality is this bill, it really is about discrimination," he said. "It's about discrimination against a person's religious beliefs and that the state shouldn't do that and that we should protect that at a higher level ... It is about protecting religion, and it has nothing to do with discriminating against any other group and won't have that effect."

Ballinger said he's not fearful a backlash could arise in Arkansas like one in Indiana that prompted Gov. Mike Pence to seek clarity in a similar law he signed days earlier. Ballinger said more than 30 states have similar laws and businesses "just can't boycott more than half the states."

Whitehead said she was proud to be part of the protest even though she doubted it would lead to the measure's defeat, at least on Tuesday.

"But I do want to be on the right side of history," she said.

Read Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

Reader poll

Do you agree with HB1228, Arkansas' Religious Freedom Restoration Act?

  • Yes; it's an important protection for those who wish to exercise sincerely held religious beliefs. 19%
  • No; it will allow businesses to discriminate against members of the LGBT community. 72%
  • No, but it can be remedied with language saying the legislation specifically has no discriminatory intent. 7%
  • I have no position. 1%
  • Other (please comment) 1%

8161 total votes.

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