Washington state Sen. Sharon Brown and 11 other Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill to legalize discrimination against gays and lesbians based on a business owner's "sincerely held" religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs or "matters of conscience." The measure would also undermine current state anti-discrimination law.Senate Bill 5927 would not allow businesses to deny services to people based on race, religion, disability or other protected classes under federal law; but being gay or transgender is not a protected class, so discriminating against them is fair game, according to the bill:The right to act or refuse to act in a manner motivated by a sincerely held religious belief, philosophical belief, or matter of conscience may not be burdened unless the government proves that it has a compelling governmental interest in infringing the specific act or refusal to act and has used the least restrictive means to further that interest.Continue Reading...