Lumping together the recently attempted Arizona religious freedom law with new criminal laws against homosexuality in Nigeria and Uganda, the United Methodist Church’s Capitol Hill lobby lamented that “legislation that denies the human rights of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender is being deliberated and enacted in states of the United States and countries around the world.”
This United Methodist General aboard of Church and Society further declared that “such legislative actions that discriminate, abuse and commit violence against persons on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression violate human rights and should be condemned.” And they insisted that “religious and cultural traditions do not excuse any form of discrimination, abuse and violence.” Their statement commended the United Methodist bishop of Arizona, who had denounced the now vetoed law as “discrimination under the guise of religious freedom.”
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