State Rep. Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City) has withdrawn House Bill 1597, an Oklahoma bill she introduced on Jan. 22 to protect local business owners from legal issues relating to their denial of service to members of the LGBT community.
Kern released the following statement today regarding the bill.
“After further consideration, I have decided to withdraw House Bill 1597, known as ‘The Business Protection Act.’ "The bill as introduced did not accomplish my desired purpose," Kern said in the statement, which was released by the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
The bill suggests that no business entity would be required to provide any " … services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods or privileges related to any lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person, group or association."
Kern's initial goal was to help protect the rights of business owners to refuse service to these community members based on their religious beliefs, she said in the statement.
“Across the country, business owners are being sued by individuals who are asking the owner to perform a service or provide a product that is contrary to their deeply held religious beliefs," Kern said in the statement. "When these business owners have refused because of conscience, they were then sued having to face legal battles that resulted in their losing their business and even facing jail. I wanted a tort bill that limited damages between the business owner and the customer ensuring that the business owner would not lose their livelihood."
Despite the bill's withdrawal, Kern still believes in the goal of the bill.
“I will support the efforts of my colleagues who have introduced bills that do what I intended," Kern said in the statement. "I will work with the governor, the speaker of the House and Senate pro tempore to protect the business interests of our state so that all our citizens who take the risk of opening a business can prosper and thrive.”
To read the full text of the bill as introduced on Jan. 22, visit the Oklahoma Legislature's website.
