The tiny southern Arizona town of Bisbee passed a civil unions ordinance this last week, and a lawsuit from state Attorney general Tom Horne wasn’t far behind. But could it hurt tourism? AZ Family reports:
In the midst of the back and forth, there’s concern that fighting Bisbee’s decision is hurting the state’s reputation. “The public consensus is that this is a non-issue anymore and that this should just be left alone,” said Ben Bethel, who owns The Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix. He believes this latest legal battle will leave a bad taste in tourists’ mouths. “People will take their conventions, they will take their businesses and they are going to take their dollars and they will move them to those places instead of Arizona,” he said.
Arizona’s reputation has already been badly damaged by the GOP’s actions, most notably the “papers please” law. My husband Mark, who is Hispanic American, wouldn’t set foot there for years, and only went the last time because my grandmother was deathly ill.