They frequently cited the case of a New Mexico photographer who was sued after refusing to take wedding pictures of a gay couple and said Arizona needs a law to protect people in the state from heavy-handed actions by courts and law enforcement. Jan Brewer of Arizona must decide whether to sign legislation that would allow business owners to cite religious beliefs as a legal justification for denying service to same-sex couples. Related Coverage Bill Viewed as Anti-Gay Is Passed in Arizona 
 
 The legislation, approved by lawmakers on Thursday, immediately attracted national attention, with conservative religious groups welcoming it as a necessary form of protection for objectors to same-sex marriage, and gay rights groups denouncing it as a license for discrimination. “Religious freedom is a fundamental right, but it’s not a blank check to harm others or impose our faith on our neighbors,” said Daniel Mach, who directs a program on freedom of religion and belief for the American Civil Liberties Union, which opposes the Arizona legislation. Last year she vetoed a similar religious freedom bill, arguing that it was a distraction from priorities lawmakers had yet to address, including the state budget. “It sounds like it’s opening the door to hate and bigotry of all stripes,” said Rocco DiGrazia, a Tucson pizzeria owner, who on Friday attracted national attention via social media because he had posted signs on the restaurant’s doors declaring, “We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to Arizona Legislators.” 
 
 “I make dinner for a living — I’m not a social activist,” Mr. DiGrazia said in a telephone interview. As expected, the measure has drawn criticism from Democrats and business groups who said it would sanction discrimination and open the state to the risk of damaging litigation. Most states where same-sex marriage is legal have exemptions for religious organizations, but not for private businesses or individuals, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.  Story highlights Not sure this needs to be a law, governor tells CNN 
 
 Bill allows business owners to deny service to gays, lesbians 
 
 Critics say the measure sanctions discrimination 
 
 Proponents of the bill say it protects people against activist federal courts 
 
 Arizona's Legislature has passed a controversial bill that would allow business owners, as long as they assert their religious beliefs, to deny service to gay and lesbian customers. “This is not about the freedom of individuals to practice their religion, this is about a license to discriminate against individuals.” 
 
 But Josh Kredit, legal counsel of the Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative group that supported the bill, said that Arizona has for years had a religious freedom law that has not been used to justify discrimination, and that the changes to that law made by the new measure are “vitally needed to ensure that in America people are free to live and work according to their faith.” 
 
 “Arizona should be known as a state that welcomes people of faith and protects them,” he said.
– Arizona is once again at the center of a hot-button national issue, but this time it's gay rights instead of immigration. The state Legislature this week passed a bill that would allow business owners to cite their religious beliefs and refuse service to gay people, reports AP. Now Gov. Jan Brewer must decide whether to sign, and it's anybody's guess whether she will do so, reports the Arizona Republic. She has vetoed similar legislation previously, but she also told CNN yesterday that business owners should be able to "choose who they work with or who they don't work with." Still, business groups such as the Greater Phoenix Economic Council want Brewer to veto the bill because they say it would damage the state's reputation and actually hurt business. Proponents see it as a matter of religious liberty. "In America, people should be free to live and work according to their faith, and the government shouldn’t be able to tell us we can’t do that,” an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom tells the New York Times. Counters an ACLU official: “Religious freedom is a fundamental right, but it’s not a blank check to harm others or impose our faith on our neighbors." Kansas' House recently passed similar legislation, but Arizona is the first state whose full legislature has backed it. (Click to read about a new study that suggests the homophobic live shorter lives.)