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| Businesses fear the connotation of this message like it's the plague. |
According to the Associated Press, despite the age of Trump and the evangelical right feeling motivated to undermine LGBTQ equality, bills devoted to that effort are being defeated in state legislatures. And the reason is a fear of economic backlashes:
In the thick of this year's legislative sessions, LGBT activists were tracking about 120 proposed bills that they viewed as threats to their civil rights. Not one of them has been enacted as many sessions now wind down; only two remain under serious consideration.
A key factor in the shift: In the Republican-led states where these types of bills surface, moderate GOP lawmakers and business leaders are increasingly wary of losing conventions, sporting events and corporate headquarters.
. . . . This year, certainly, conservatives have struggled to gain much traction at the state level on LGBT-related issues. Among the many bills that failed:
—A Tennessee measure that would have required the state to defend schools in court if they were sued for limiting transgender students' access to bathrooms.
—A South Dakota bill that would have required signs on some public restroom doors notifying users that a person of the opposite sex might be inside.
—A "religious liberties" bill in Georgia that would have given legal protection to faith-based adoption agencies that decline to place children with same-sex couples.
An ever-growing number of states — at least a dozen — have passed bills banning the practice of "gay conversion therapy" on minors. And voters in Anchorage, Alaska, rejected a ballot measure that would have restricted transgender people's access to public restrooms.
And, according to the article, there will be a huge upcoming campaign devoted to showing the need for anti-discrimination laws. And in June, SCOTUS will decide a case which may or may not allow businesses refuse to service on the basis of religious objections.
