SB1346 repeal is the right thing to do and long overdue

STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX – Senator Martin Quezada released the following statement on the successful repeal of Arizona's "no-promo-homo" law:

Sen. Quezada

"The statute we repealed today is an archaic and narrow-minded hold-over from 1991 when there was still a lot unknown about HIV and AIDS. It scapegoats the LGBTQ community, stigmatizes Arizona's LGBTQ students and forces educators to not teach medically accurate information.

While it's a very good thing that we are repealing this law today but we could have gotten here a long time ago and without the threat of a lawsuit.

For many, many years Democrats in both chambers have introduced legislation to repeal this law, including this year. But as happens with the vast majority of Democratic bills, they were never granted a hearing by the majority party.

It's not good governing to wait until you face losing a lawsuit to do the right thing.

I want to thank my colleagues who voted for this repeal, for my colleagues who have fought for LGBTQ rights over the years and to Equality Arizona and all stakeholders for the work they do to achieve equal rights in Arizona.

We still have a long way to go and we still have many discriminatory and unconstitutional laws in Arizona. I hope we can correct more of these wrongs in the near future, because it's the right thing to do.