More and more states are voting though bills that allow for the discrimination of LGBT individuals under the guise of religious liberty. In a win for the LGBT community, Georgia’s governor has decided Georgia will not be one of them.
After receiving increasing pressure from outside corporations, Governor Nathan Deal has decided that he will veto the bill. I guess it’s intimidating when you’re being pressured by companies such as Salesforce, Disney, Unilever, Intel, as well as Georgia Prospers which has members like Coca-Cola and UPS, and let’s not forget Apple, Microsoft, Twitter and Dell were in favor of a veto. Voting through the bill would have also cost Atlanta the chance to host the Super Bowl.
I find it interesting that Governor Deal stated that the pressures from the corporations didn’t factor in to his decision. He stated that the decision was:
“about the character of our state and the character of our people. Georgia is a welcoming state. It is full of loving, kind and generous people.”
It would be kind of difficult to have your state be viewed as welcoming when you get religious organizations a free opportunity to oppress anyone they don’t agree with.
The governor also said he “found it ironic that some people acknowledge that God grants the freedoms enumerated in the First Amendment, but want the government to enact laws to secure those rights.” Are the Religious Right insinuating that God needs assistance in guaranteeing his word is followed?
North Carolina, another state which has passed a religious liberty bill, is facing increasing pressure. The ACLU is backing a lawsuit against the state that says the bill is unconstitutional. In regards to my constitutional knowledge, I believe everyone is granted life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I also recall a section about freedom of religion which includes the idea that one religion shouldn’t be allowed to persecute others based solely on a difference of beliefs.
So we still have a while to go getting people to realize that by giving everyone equal rights regardless of who they love or what gender they are, but at least for today we can claim a little bit of victory. Now, hopefully with the pressure from the ACLU North Carolina will follow Georgia’s lead.
Featured image via Flikr by trollhare available under a Creative Commons 2.0 Generic license
