ARKANSAS: Eureka Springs Voters Block Repeal Of LGBT Rights Bill

Some great news tonight:

People in Eureka Springs voted Tuesday to keep a measure that would prohibit the city and private businesses from discriminating against someone based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. The unofficial final tally was 579 votes in favor of ratifying Ordinance 2223, approved by the city council in February. 231 people voted in favor of repealing the law. Voting began one week ago. The law is similar to an anti-discrimination ordinance passed by Springfield's city council, that was later repealed by voters.

More than 2-1!

ARKANSAS: Christian Leader Of LGBT Rights Repeal Movement Exposed As Convicted Serial Rapist

From You Can't Make It Up Headquarters:

The Arkansas Times has confirmed that a Baptist preacher in Eureka Springs who features prominently in a new video urging repeal of the city's Ordinance 2223, which protects LGBT people from discrimination, pleaded guilty to a series of violent rapes in Oklahoma in 1977.

Acra Lee Turner, 60, currently serves as a pastor of Penn Memorial Baptist Church in Eureka Springs. In an interview with the Times, he confirmed that he is the same Acra Lee Turner who, as a 22-year-old man, was convicted of three counts of rape in Stephens County near Lawton, Okla. In April 1977, he was sent to prison for three concurrent sentences of 30 to 60 years for those crimes, including — according to this story from an Oklahoma newspaper — the rape of an 80-year old woman who was beaten so badly that she was almost unrecognizable.

Turner was released in August 2000. According to reports in The Oklahoman and Tulsa World newspapers, the victims and their relatives repeatedly petitioned the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board to keep him in prison. According to The Oklahoman, Turner’s first victim delivered 4,861 signatures to the Pardon and Parole Board in 1991. It was the sixth such petition she’d delivered."It's been difficult, but this is the only way I can stay ahead of him," the victim told The Oklahoman in 1992. "I believe if he gets out, he will commit the crime again, and this time he won't leave a witness. "

Here's the pro-repeal clip.

ARKANSAS: Pro-LGBT Church Banned From Eureka Springs Easter Parade

Ozarks First reports:

Eureka Springs Celebrate Jesus Easter parade made its way through downtown Saturday afternoon, but one church was left on the sidelines. First United Methodist of Eureka Springs applied to be in the parade, and was initially accepted. One week before the parade, however, they were told they were no longer welcome. Church member Suzie Bell believes it's because of their stance on the LGBT community. "They wanted to know what our banner was going to say, and it said "Jesus loves all. They had decided that they did not want us in the parade, and that we weren't welcome." Bell said. Bell says the Methodist Church has recently become a "reconciling congregation" meaning they are publicly welcoming of the LGBT community. Bell says that is the reason they weren't allowed in. "It was based purely on our love and acceptance of the LGBT community." Bell said.

A spokesperson for the parade issued a statement.

"This day isn't a day of pointing fingers or playing the blame game. This parade is to honor our Lord and Savior and for praising God for sending His only Son who willingly went to the cross, died and rose on the third day that when we repent of our sins and accept Him. We have the promise of eternal life with the Lord. But more that that He carries us each day that we are on this earth. We are all sinners redeemed by the grace of God. We believe that the Bible is the un compromised Word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit. Regardless of what has been stated in the papers. We do not have anything against the Methodist Church. After all my uncle was a Methodist minister. Nor do we have anything against the homosexual community. When I worked downtown I had homosexual people that I considered my friends and still do."

Ozarks First notes that the statement does not actually give a reason for banning the church.

ARKANSAS: LGBT Groups Issue Last Minute Veto Plea To Governor

Two weeks ago the Arkansas legislature approved a bill that would ban any municipality from enacting LGBT anti-discrimination ordinances. Without a veto from Gov. Asa Hutchinson, that law goes into effect tomorrow. Yesterday Lambda Legal, the ACLU, GLAD, and the NCLR issued a last-minute plea to Hutchinson.

SB 202 was passed to thwart cities like Fayetteville and Eureka Springs that recently have enacted sexual orientation and gender identity nondiscrimination protections. So if Governor Hutchinson allows this bill to take effect, it will amount to a giant, flashing “Gays Stay Away” sign. It will block sincere local efforts to show that Arkansas communities are welcoming places beckoning talent, innovation and workforce diversity. It will do precisely what Arizona’s Governor Brewer decided to avoid last year when she vetoed that state’s “discrimination as religion” bill.

Recalling Colorado's fatally flawed Amendment 2, which years ago explicitly targeted lesbians, gay men and bisexuals (and not heterosexuals), many are asking whether SB 202 is a similarly unconstitutional denial of equal protection. When the Supreme Court struck down Amendment 2 in Romer v. Evans, it underscored that the case record revealed anti-gay "animus" propelling the popular vote and no legitimate government reasons for precluding local nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people, and for no one else.

It is that manifest and dangerously discriminatory purpose that causes so many to call out the equal protection problem at the heart of SB 202. Every lawmaker who voted for this bill has taken an oath to uphold both the Arkansas Constitution and the United States Constitution. Both charters contain equal protection guarantees. Governor Hutchinson has taken that oath as well. He also has pledged to shepherd the State's economy. We call on him to honor both commitments by vetoing SB 202.

ARKANSAS: Bill To Ban All LGBT Rights Laws Heads To Governor's Desk

Via Buzzfeed:

The Arkansas legislature gave its final thumbs-up Friday to a bill that would block cities and counties from enacting antidiscrimination laws that protect LGBT people. The Arkansas House of Representatives voted decisively, 57-20, for SB202, with seven members voting present. Having already cleared the state Senate Monday, the bill now heads to Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is not expected to veto the legislation. The bill’s sponsor, Republican State Sen. Bart Hester [photo], told BuzzFeed News this week that he sponsored the measure to create consistent policies across Arkansas that will attract business, and because he was infuriated that cities were attempting to expand civil rights laws for LGBT people. “This bill creates uniformity for business, and citizens for that matter, so that our employment laws will be the same throughout the state,” Republican Rep. Bob Ballinger, the bill’s House sponsor, said before today’s vote on the House floor. “There are some things on a statewide basis we deal with all the time, such as murder and fraud — a variety of things that need to be uniform,” he said.

Fayetteville's LGBT rights ordinance was repealed in December following a vicious campaign by the Family Research Council and the Duggar family. Early this week the popular LGBT destination of Eureka Springs hastily approved a sweeping rights bill, becoming the only municipality in the state with such a law on the books. GOP members of the Arkansas legislature say that they believe their bill will overturn the ordinance in Eureka Springs.

ARKANSAS: Eureka Springs Approves Sweeping Anti-Discrimination Protections, But It May All Be For Naught

City officials in the popular LGBT resort town of Eureka Springs last night unanimously approved a sweeping rights ordinance just days before the Arkansas legislature is due to enact a ban on any such laws in the state.

Ordinance 2223 was rushed through three readings at Monday's meeting so it would become city law before a bill in the state Legislature passes making the creation or enforcement of such ordinances illegal. Council member James DeVito said it was imperative to pass the ordinance Monday because Senate Bill 202 passed on the Senate floor that day and is on its way to the state House of Representatives. "We passed the first domestic-partnership law in the state, married the first same-sex couples in the state. Yet as a community, we don't have laws to protect those people," DeVito told the council. "So I think it is imperative that we pass this in three readings." The ordinance passed unanimously on all three readings, as did a resolution opposing SB202. The council also passed an emergency clause to put the new ordinance into effect as soon as possible. Eureka Springs Mayor Robert D. "Butch" Berry said he'll sign the ordinance today or Wednesday after document changes requested by the council have been made and a fresh copy of the eight-page ordinance is available. When that happens, Eureka Springs will become the only city in Arkansas with such an ordinance.

According to GOP state Rep. Bob Ballinger, Eureka Springs is wasting their time because his bill "trumps" any municipal legislation. Fayetteville, the first Arkansas town to enact such an ordinance, gained national attention after the Family Research Council and the Duggar family launched a successful repeal campaign in December. (Tipped by JMG reader Michael)

RELATED: During the brief period that same-sex marriage was legal in Arkansas, Eureka Springs was the first to issue licenses.