Sharon Brown

Who is Sharon Brown?

Sharon Raye Brown is an American politician of the Republican Party. She is a member of the Washington State Senate from the Washington's 8th Legislative District. Brown was appointed to fill the Senate seat on February 4, 2013 following Senator Jerome Delvin's leaving to become Benton County Commissioner in January 2013.

On April 25, 2013, Sen. Brown introduced legislation that "would allow businesses the right to deny services or goods if they felt doing so was contrary to their 'sincerely held religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs, or matters of conscience.' The measure would not apply to the denial of services to people under a protected class under federal law, such as race, religion or disability." The legislation's goal is to allow businesses to deny service to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered populations, since they are not protected by federal law. Areas currently protected under the state's non-discrimination statute include "employment, hotel stays, the purchase of real estate and insurance, and the use of credit cards" so it is unclear what the impact on hotels would be.