Arizona governor vetoes anti-gay bill

• Businesses would have been allowed to deny services to gays
• Boycott threatened if bill passed
• American Airlines, Apple among companies opposed

Demonstrators celebrate in different ways as they learn Arizona Republican Gov. Jan Brewer vetoes SB1062, a bill designed to give added protection from lawsuits to people who assert their religious beliefs in refusing service to gays, at the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014, in Phoenix. AP

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer  vetoed a controversial bill that would have legitimized a business owner’s right to refuse service to gays and others on the basis of religion.

The veto comes in the wake of strong national protests from gay rights groups, businesses and gay community supporters.

Brewer stated that the bill, SB 1062 was too broad in language and could lead to negative results for her state.

Critics scored the bill as unconstitutional, homophobic and possibly damaging to the state’s economy.

Proponents of SB 1062 say it was not discriminatory and was meant only to protect religious freedom.

Arizona’s bill was similar the ones that failed in Kansas and Idaho. A similar bill is being proposed in Utah.

The Arizona bill would have broadened the definition of the free exercise of religion, letting individuals to strictly practice their beliefs.

For example, in Colorado a baker had refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple (a state judge later ruled against him). In New Mexico, the state Supreme Court ruled that a gay couple could sue a photographer who refused to photograph their commitment ceremony.

Companies like Apple, American Airlines, Marriott and Delta Air Lines. The Arizona Super Bowl Committee also came out against the bill. Arizona will host the 2015 Super Bowl.

Among Republican leaders who urged a veto  were former presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Arizona’s U.S. senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake.

There a 39,913 Filipinos in the Greater Phoenix, Arizona area.