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Oklahoma Anti-Gay Business Bill Dead This Session

oklahoma capitol facade
KellyK
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Flickr Creative Commons

The principal sponsor of a bill that would allow business owners in Oklahoma with strongly held religious beliefs to refuse service to gays says his measure is going back for rewrite.

Not only that, Seminole Republican Tom Newell says the measure likely won't be given any further consideration in the current legislative session.

Newell said Tuesday that while he still supports the idea, his bill is being redrafted to prevent "any fiascos like there have been elsewhere."

The bill initially would have provided legal immunity to anyone who refuses services to gays — if the refusal is based on religious beliefs.

The measure is similar to one that set off a political firestorm in Arizona.

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