MLB joins fight against Arizona Senate Bill 1062
By Jeff Adcox
Over the last few days, many organizations have joined together to fight Arizona Senate Bill 1062 including the NFL and the Arizona Cardinals. Major League Baseball has now joined that list.
The bill, which would allow businesses the right to refuse service to anyone based on religious beliefs, was viewed a discriminatory by many in particular because it would allow businesses to refuse service to customers based on sexual orientation.
In response to the bill, MLB issued the following statement:
"“As the sport of Jackie Robinson, Major League Baseball and its 30 Clubs stand united behind the principles of respect, inclusion and acceptance. Those values are fundamental to our game’s diverse players, employees and fans. We welcome individuals of different sexual orientations, races, religions, genders and national origins. “MLB has a zero-tolerance policy for harassment or discrimination based on sexual orientation, as reflected by our collective bargaining agreement with the MLB Players Association. Accordingly, MLB will neither support nor tolerate any words, attitudes or actions that imperil the inclusive communities that we have strived to foster within our game.”"
Within two hours of the statement, Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed the proposed legislation. In addition to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the state is also home to Spring Training for many MLB teams.