Georgia governor Nathan Deal announced today that he will veto the pending “religious liberty” bill that has made its way through legislation.
House Bill 757 called for allowing businesses and corporations the right to refuse service to certain people on religious grounds. It came under heavy fire from the general public, as people claimed it specifically targeted gays, lesbians, the bisexual, and the transgendered. It was widely seen as an attack on these communities. In the past few days, the state government has received multiple threats from large corporations, such as the NFL and Disney, which said they will refuse to do businesses within the state should the bill be passed.
This morning, Deal spoke to reporters regarding the bill:
“I do not think we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia, of which I and my family have been a part of for all of our lives.”
Deal insisted that this decision did not come from the urging of businesses or opposed faith communities.
“[The bill is] 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. … I intend to do my part to keep it that way. For that reason, I will veto House Bill 757.”
Following the veto, Georgia senator Mark Crane called for a session, intending to override it. The session reached the three-fifths majority in the House and Senate necessary to call the session into order, but ultimately fell short of the two-thirds majority required to override the governor’s veto.
Dennis Ralston, Georgia House Speaker, lamented the failure of the bill, insisting the controversy arose out of ignorance of its benefits:
“It is regrettable that the merits of this measure have been ignored in the days since its passage by critics who had not taken the time to read the bill or understand the legal issues involved.”
Featured image by John S. Quarterman, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.
