LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - Republican Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday rejected a religion bill he had said he would sign into law, reversing course after a firestorm of criticism assailing such legislation as discriminating against gays and lesbians.
In a news conference at the Capitol in Little Rock, Hutchinson said he was sending the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) back to the Republican-controlled legislature to be rewritten to better balance tolerance for diversity and protections of religious freedom.
The governor said his own son had asked him to veto it, adding a personal element to the intense pressure to reject the bill he had already faced from businesses such as Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's biggest retailer.
While Hutchinson spoke, scores of protesters outside waved the rainbow flag of the gay rights movement.
"We want to be known as a state that does not discriminate, but understands tolerance. That is the challenge that we face," Hutchinson said. "We just didn't get it perfect through that legislative process."
Hutchinson's reversal came a day after Indiana Governor Mike Pence, also a Republican, said he was sending his state's new RFRA back for the same reason.
Pence faced national outrage after he signed Indiana's bill into law last week. On Wednesday, Republican lawmakers in his state met with leaders of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community to see how they could modify the law to protect their community from potential discrimination.
The rewritten law could be ready as early as Thursday, said Tory Flynn, spokeswoman for Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma.
Twenty U.S. states and the federal government have RFRAs, which allow individuals to sue the government if they believe their First Amendment religious rights have been violated.
But those in Indiana and Arkansas go further than all but one of the state laws, allowing lawsuits between private parties. That raised the possibility that businesses such as florists or photographers could use the law as a defense if they are sued for refusing to provide services for same-sex weddings. Texas is the only other state with a similar provision.
Hutchinson said he was asking lawmakers to bring the Arkansas RFRA in line with the federal one, which does not include the language on lawsuits between private parties.
Critics see the crafting of the bills in Arkansas and Indiana as a push-back against the expansion of gay-marriage acts to most states last year.
Gay-rights activists and backers of the bill were lukewarm about the governor's announcement, since they had wanted either a veto or for the original language to remain intact.
Outside the Arkansas Capitol, Tippi McCullough, president of the Stonewall Democrats of Arkansas, a prominent group for the LGBT community, said: "I'm not satisfied but I'm certainly happy that this is a step toward compromise and progress."
Hutchinson, who is 64, recognized a generational divide. Support for same-sex marriage is higher among young people in the United States.
"The issue has become divisive, because our nation remains split on how to balance the diversity of our culture with the traditions and firmly held religious convictions. It has divided families and there is clearly a generational gap on this issue."
Supporters of the bills in Indiana and Arkansas argue that courts hearing religious freedom cases will ensure a balance is struck between religious freedom and anti-discrimination.
Jerry Cox, president of the Arkansas Family Council, which wanted the governor to approve the bill, said he was disappointed.
"I'm very puzzled. I fail to see why the bill needs to be amended. It's been thoroughly vetted," he said.
Wal-Mart has been one of the most prominent voices among a business clamor against the laws. But Jim Walton, one of the world's wealthiest people and a member of the Walton family who own a majority of Wal-Mart's stock, have made contributions to the Council, public records show.
According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, since 2004, Walton family members have contributed $12,000 to Hutchinson and $75,000 to the Council. (Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas, David Bailey in Minneapolis, Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago and Lawrence Hurley in Washington, D.C.)
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