Rogue State

[William769]

Despite touting a libertarian ethos and gorgeous landscape, the state has become a wasteland for human rights, unsafe for women, LGBTs, and people of color.



There is no place like Arizona. Spectacularly beautiful, it is home to Grand Canyon National Park, one reason the state places seventh on the top 10 list of LGBT destinations. Arizona’s dramatic physical beauty has long drawn a diverse demographic from across the country that makes it an ideal place for libertarians—people who value their personal liberty, political freedom, and government at a distance.

But while Arizona’s geography can be taken at face value, its political landscape cannot. Despite having had more female governors than any other state, a high median income, a significant proportion of the nation’s Latino and Native American populations, and unparalleled growth, the state has taken a turn for the extreme, the oppressive, and even the unconstitutional, particularly during the administration of Republican Governor Jan Brewer. Having long presented itself as open to anything, Arizona is now more extremist flashpoint than libertarian mecca, its live-and-let-live ideals eroded by an invidious new politics that is deeply conservative. What’s happening to Arizona?

Arizona was defined by President Teddy Roosevelt’s conservation fervor. The original libertarian president designated the Grand Canyon and much of the rest of the state a protected area. Only 15% of the state is privately owned land; the rest belongs to the U.S. government and Native Americans. A full quarter of the state is reservations, home to nearly 20 Native American/First Peoples tribes, notably the Navajo, Hopi, and Apache. Native culture has influenced Arizona culture, as have the Mexican cultures of Sonora to the south and Baja California to the west. Phoenix has one of the largest collections of Native American art in the country.

Barely a century old, Arizona was the last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the union, on Valentine’s Day, 1912, but in the past decade it has become the fastest growing state. In 1950, Arizona had fewer than 1 million residents. In 2012, it had 6.6 million and is now the 15th most populous state.
Much of that growth is centered in Phoenix and the surrounding smaller cities of Mesa and Glendale. Despite daunting temperatures, Phoenix has become a magnet city in the Southwest, with a growth rate for 2013 higher than any other city in the country. A hub for industry—particularly a booming tech world—and a locus for conventions, the city’s population has grown by nearly 24.8% in the last 15 years, according to U.S. Census figures.

http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2013/09/06/rogue-state

[William769]

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