State offers a license (plate) to discriminate
The state of Arizona has handed over nearly a million dollars to an organization dedicated to restricting the rights of some Arizona residents. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: Didn’t they teach us in school that a state should be doing the exact opposite of that? Yes.
At least I hope so. But apparently Arizona lawmakers were absent that day, since they seem to have acquiesced to the demands and prejudices (and big money backers) of organizations that don’t particularly go along with the idea of equal rights for everyone.
An article by The Arizona Republic’s
Ryan Randazzo revealed that funds from the specialty license plate printed with the national motto “In God We Trust” are going to a Scottsdale-based organization called Alliance Defending Freedom.
More than $900,000 since 2014. The alliance has been labeled an anti-LGBTQ “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It’s a harsh word, “hate,” and too easily tossed around. But the fact is, the group has supported or participated in cases that would deny access, rights and services to LGBTQ people.
Not many people knew the license plate money was going to the alliance because the Arizona Department of Transportation said only that the plates were meant to promote the national motto, along with First Amendment rights, “and the heritage of this state and nation,” without being specific about where the money went.
If ADOT had slightly altered that description, saying money from the plates was being used to promote “the
worst aspects of the heritage of this state and nation,” it would have at least been more accurate.
That is what Alliance Defending Freedom represents.
They don’t describe themselves that way, of course.
Jeremy Tedesco, Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel and vice president of U.S. Advocacy, told Randazzo, “Alliance Defending Freedom advocates for the freedom of all Americans to peacefully live in accordance with their beliefs, including those with no belief. We represent people from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds.”
It’s a nice thought. And certainly there has been some diversity in the legal cases taken on by the group. But Alliance Defending Freedom gets most of its attention for the legal war it wages against laws meant to protect the LGBTQ community.
Most recently they have been leading the fight against the anti-discrimination ordinance passed by Phoenix City Council.
They fought gay marriage as well.
They say they’re out to protect the religious beliefs of their clients.
But they seem more dedicated to having the beliefs of their clients supersede the beliefs of everyone else in the community. The alliance is not about preserving the rights of everyone but limiting the rights of some.
The alliance has every right to believe what they believe and advocate for what they wish to advocate.
But they should not be
Not many people knew the license plate money was going to the alliance.
doing so with money generated by taxpayers from a state that — in theory — is meant to preserve the rights of ALL its citizens, whether or not an advocacy group disagrees with how some of our brothers and sisters live their lives.
Tory Roberg, the director of government affairs for the Secular Coalition for Arizona, said of the alliance’s license plate windfall, “We were appalled by it. People really need to know where their money is going.”
A few Arizona lawmakers have introduced legislation that would stop the flow of money to the alliance and require ADOT to be more transparent about where license plate money goes.
After an article about the Alliance Defending Freedom made the papers a while back a reader summed up the operation in a letter to the editor. He said the group apparently spelled the word justice — “just us.”