Civil Rights in Arizona: Attacked from Many Sides

The governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer (R), has come under fire for her draconian new immigration laws. The bill's sponsor, State Sen. Russell Pearce (R) and writer, Kansas secretary of state candidate Kris Kobach, each have ties to racist organizations, as Rachel Maddow explains. It is worth remembering, however, that the civil rights of people in Arizona have been under attack for some time.

In the November 2008 election, voters approved an initiative that amended the state Constitution to define marriage as one man and one woman. Never mind that the state already prohibited marriages of same-sex couples by statute. By putting it in the constitution, the law is now harder to change and impossible for the state supreme court to rule unconstitutional. (Just in case, you know, any “activist judges” decided that civil rights were worth a damn.)

Shortly after Gov. Brewer took office in January 2009, she repealed a bill extending benefits to the same- and opposite-sex domestic partners of state employees, which had been enacted under her predecessor, Janet Napolitano. That will save her state $3 million of the $625 million it spends on benefits, according to the state Department of Administration (via the Arizona Daily Star). That’s less than half a percent — a drop in the overall state budget — but of much greater personal impact to the 800 state employees affected.

The employees affected include an estimated 40 same-sex partners and 130 opposite-sex partners at the University of Arizona, reports the Daily Star. University president Robert Shelton has said that the rule change “challenges our values of equity and inclusion, and also appears to exclude vital health insurance coverage for many disabled dependents. Benefits parity is essential for a world-class university, and we are resolved to achieve it.”

Gov. Brewer, however, seems to have put her personal prejudices above her state university’s desire to be world class. The state's two senators, John McCain (R) and Jon Kyl (R), have a poor record on LGBT rights as well, as Maia Spotts pointed out in her "Gay State of the State: Arizona" post a few months ago.

The good news is that the Department of Administration has just stated that the domestic partnership benefits repeal will go into effect Oct. 1, 2010. Gov. Brewer is up for reelection in November. With any luck, domestic partners of state employees will only be out of benefits for a few months, until Brewer’s successor takes office.

When it comes to the number of people affected, of course, the new immigration bill will have much greater impact than the benefits bill, or even the marriage equality ban. Arizona has nearly two million people of Hispanic descent, but only about 200,000 LGB people (though of course some people fall into both categories).

It seems to me, however, that the happenings in Arizona aren't just a matter of immigrant rights or LGBT rights or any other specific category. They're a matter of civil rights for all people. The immigration law is just one of a series of state government moves to define very narrowly who gets to be treated with respect, dignity, and equality in the Grand Canyon state.

Photo credit: Luca Galuzzi, Wikimedia Commons