CHICAGO, United States — Gay rights groups and child welfare advocates raised alarm Monday over what they see as legislative attempts in nearly two dozen US states to roll back recent anti-discrimination gains. The South Dakota law “is really just the beginning, and is part of a large wave” of similar efforts, said Sarah Warbelow, legal director at the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign (HRC). ADVERTISEMENTREAD: Trump moves leave LGBT groups, religious conservatives waryThere are more than 100 similar bills in 23 states, according to HRC and the American Civil Liberties Union, including Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee. The bills aim to loosen restrictions on discriminating against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people through religious exemptions, the groups said. A spokesperson for South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard, who signed the bill into law on Friday, did not return AFP’s request for comment.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 13, 2017 23:37 UTC