ATLANTA – The sponsor of Georgia’s bill to protect opponents of same-sex marriage on Tuesday urged the state’s Republican governor to sign the proposal, defending it amid a wave of opposition from big-name corporations and sports organizations.
Pressure on Gov. Nathan Deal has continued to ramp up after passage of the bill by Georgia’s General Assembly. It has been hailed by religious conservatives but top employers and gay-rights advocates labeled it state-sanctioned discrimination, particularly against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people.
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 10/15/15. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal speaks to media after a ceremonial ground breaking on the new Vanguard site in Trenton announcing that the Semi-trailer manufacturing plant is bringing 400 jobs to Dade County.
Rep. Taylor Bennett puts on a “No Discrimination” sticker with Rep. Karla Drenner before a press conference by Democratic lawmakers opposing the passage of House Bill 757, a bill approved by the Georgia Legislature that protects opponents of same-sex marriage, Monday, March 21, 2016, in Atlanta. They urged Gov. Deal to veto the bill.Greg Kirk, the Republican state senator who carried the bill, has said it’s a response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage.
On Tuesday, Kirk and other lawmakers pushed back against opponents including Apple, Porsche, Atlanta’s professional sports teams and the NFL – which has warned the bill could doom Atlanta’s bid to host a Super Bowl.
“Will our state and nation going forward be a state and nation that is intolerant of those who express the sincerely held belief that marriage is between a man and a woman?” Kirk said. “And will expression of that belief in the workplace or marketplace lead to sanctions by local, state or federal government in the name of tolerance? I say no. That’s not the America that I grew up in.”
The measure would bar government penalties against faith-based organizations that refuse to serve someone if it would violate a “sincerely held religious belief” or hire someone “whose religious beliefs or practices or lack of either” violate its religion. It includes language based on a federal “religious freedom restoration act,” preventing government from burdening religious belief.
Public employees who refuse to perform their duties, such as a probate judge issuing marriage licenses, would not be covered. The bill says it doesn’t permit discrimination prohibited by federal or state law.
It also would allow religious officials to refuse performing gay marriages and protect any individual who refuses to attend a marriage that conflicts with their faith.
Opponents on Tuesday continued to warn against the bill, including a representative for the Motion Picture Association of America. Georgia’s generous tax credit for film and television has caused the industry to boom here, adding $6 billion to the state’s economy this year according to the state’s economic development agency.
“We are confident that Governor Deal will not allow a discriminatory bill to become law in Georgia,” Vans Stevenson, MPAA senior vice president of state government affairs, said in a statement.
A former federal prosecutor warned that local non-discrimination laws specifically protecting LGBT residents, as in the city of Atlanta, could be challenged. He also said in a new analysis that the bill is “a solution in search of a problem.” Gay-rights advocacy group Georgia Equality requested the analysis from Joe Whitley, who worked in the Department of Justice under two Republican presidents.
Deal has until May 3 to act on the bill. The governor, who is in his final term, hasn’t said how he will respond to the final bill. He opposed previous versions.