No, the bill does not “allow them to refuse service to gays” it just does not “FORCE THEM to give service” to anyone they don’t want to serve.
If I don’t want your business how can the government FORCE me to give you service? (and would you really want what I give you if I am forced?)
Easy, civil rights laws. Those statues created to force businesses to serve blacks in the 1960’s opened the door to what we have now. Rather than use economics and shame to end racist practices we gave the government the power to decide what discrimination is appropriate and now we get “human rights commissions” forcing Christians at gunpoint to serve homosexuals.
That is why this Arizona bill is a bad idea. We do not need to further enshrine civil rights legislation with band-aide fixes. We need to rip out the problem at the root and do away with the original freedom violating laws.