As ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft continue to grow in popularity, more and more states are considering legislation to regulate them. 

The goal is to establish statewide standards and bar cities — some of which have stopped Uber and Lyft from operating — from regulating the services. 

Uber and Lyft both include sexual orientation and gender identity in their nondiscrimination policies, and because they’ve been involved in drafting the legislation, LGBT protections are generally included. But that isn’t going over well in places like Oklahoma, where the Senate voted this week to remove sexual orientation and gender identity from the state’s ride-hailing bill. The Associated Press reports: 

The House-passed version of the bill included language that prohibited the companies from discriminating against customers based on sexual orientation or gender identity. But Sen. Jason Smalley said he rewrote the bill to eliminate that language and allow private businesses to establish their own policies regarding discrimination.

“I believe if a private business owner wants to serve or not serve an individual, they have that purview right now,” said Smalley, a Republican.

One Democratic senator unsuccessfully tried to amend the bill to require drivers wishing to discriminate against LGBT riders to post notice on their vehicles. More from the AP:  

“Uber’s policy is to serve every neighborhood, every driver and every person who needs a ride,” company spokeswoman Jennifer Mullin said. The company will continue to enforce its current terms of service, “which make clear that discrimination in any form is not tolerated and will result in removal from the platform,” she said.

Troy Stevenson, executive director of Freedom of Oklahoma, said in a statement that the group does not “understand why a member of the Oklahoma Legislature wants to remove protections for (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Oklahomans from a bill that is specific to an industry that already protects them, in their corporate policies. Oklahomans do not believe in discrimination, and it is time for ideological law makers to quit trying to distract from the real problems of our state by attacking the LGBT community.”

It’s unclear how many states have passed LGBT-inclusive legislation regulating Uber and Lyft. But it’s safe to say that in some red states, it would amount to the first time sexual orientation and gender identity have been mentioned in statute.  

Texas, for example, is considering a similar bill, which currently includes sexual orientation and gender identity. But it’s hard to imagine Republican lawmakers — who are seeking to bar cities from enacting LGBT protections — won’t try to remove sexual orientation and gender identity from the ride-hailng bill.

Would it be too much to ask for Uber — which actively opposed Indiana’s “religious freedom” law — to insist that LGBT protections remain in the bills? 

Stay tuned. 

Earlier this week, we reported that the Log Cabin Republicans had been denied a booth at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver this summer.  

After a media firestorm, the Colorado GOP has attempted to quell the controversy by inviting Log Cabin to share its booth at the event — a major conservative conference put on by Colorado Christian University and its Centennial Institute think tank. 

Not surprisingly, rather than apologizing for their bigotry and stupidity, organizers of the summit have responded by trying to play the victim. From The Denver Post: 

Party Chairman Steve House, who took over in March, made the announcement Thursday afternoon, one day after a firestorm over the snub by summit organizers to the Log Cabin Republicans.

“We’re fine with the Colorado Republicans sharing some table space at the summit with all their affiliated groups. We’re not fine with the shaming and bullying pressure tactics of Log Cabin Republicans’ national office,” said summit chairman John Andrews.

I was unable to find any specific examples of bullying or shaming by Log Cabin Republicans National. I did find a long thread of comments in support of LCR on the summit’s Facebook page, as well as a few tweets like these: 

@LogCabinGOP @JohnAndrewsJr This is why the GOP is circling the drain, and what to helped get Obama re-elected. Idiots within the GOP.

— Jerry Boyd (@JerryRBoyd) April 15, 2015

We realize this is why republicans lose elections, yes? @JohnAndrewsJr

— Lauren Pacifico (@lpac2) April 16, 2015

@JohnAndrewsJr is the reason why moderates like me vote Democrat

— e08d5a514978a614d01c (@moreThanBytes) April 16, 2015

The bottom line appears to be that the Colorado GOP — along with many rank-and-file Republicans — has come to realize that alienating LGBT people and their allies is no longer in the party’s best interest. But the religious right wing of the party, as well as most of its presidential candidates, have not. Of course, they’re still willing to take Log Cabin’s votes and money: 

“I hope the state party’s sensible approach gives the local Log Cabin folks more reason to sign up” as delegates to the summit,” Andrews said.

“We want to be fair to them if they’ll be fair to us.”

And by being “fair to us,” Andrews presumably means not trying to stop them from bullying and shaming LGBT people.