In a Washington Post opinion piece Sunday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Texas would "enshrine discrimination" into state law with proposed anti-LGBT legislation.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, over 80 anti-LGBT measures have been recently proposed in more than half of the country.  Arkansas and Indiana have received backlash after legislators passed laws allowing residents to cite religious freedom in refusing service to LGBT potential customers.  Cook, an openly gay man, referred to similar measures proposed to the Texas legislature in his op-ed,

Legislation being considered in Texas would strip the salaries and pensions of clerks who issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples - even if the Supreme Court strikes down Texas' marriage ban later this year.

These bills rationalize injustice by pretending to defend something many of us hold dear.  They go against the very principles our nation was founded on, and they have the potential to undo decades of progress toward greater equality.

This isn't a political issue.  It isn't a religious issue.  This is about how we treat each other as human beings.  Opposing discrimination takes courage.  With the lives and dignity of so many people at stake, its time for all of us to be courageous.

The proposed measure against clerks Cook referred to was filed by state representative Cecil Bell, who has filed several bills against gay marriage.  Bell defended his standpoint from accusations of it being anti-LGBT,

Unfortunately, I think it gets couched as "anti."  It's not about "anti."  It's about being pro-states' rights.  It's about being pro-traditional values.  We're seeing the results of a federal court system that doesn't seem to be respecting the rights, the sovereignty, of the states and of the people.  Because of that, you see the state legislatures pushing back.

But it is House Bill 1556 that is most like the controversial measures in Arkansas and Indiana, preventing cities from enforcing nondiscrimination ordinances, including those protecting residents' sexual orientation and gender identity.

Tim Cook also noted his experiences growing up in the South during segregation, urging that the nation must never return to anything similar to that.

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