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Georgia Senate passes hybrid anti-gay ‘religious freedom’ bill
http://thegavoice.com/georgia-senate-passes-hybrid-anti-gay-religious-freedom/The Georgia Senate passed a hybrid so-called “religious freedom” bill Friday along party lines 38 to 14 after three hours of lively debate, leaving Georgia companies bracing for a possible boycott on the scale of what happened when Indiana passed a “religous freedom” bill last year. The bill now goes to the House for final approval. House Bill 757, Rep. Kevin Tanner’s (R-Dawsonville) “Pastor Protection Act,” had been considered one of the least discriminatory of all the “religious freedom” bills currently under consideration—that is until a Senate Rules Committee hearing on Tuesday.
During that hearing, the bill was amended to include the anti-gay guts of the much more controversial First Amendment Defense Act. Sen. Greg Kirk’s (R-Americus) bill would allow faith-based organizations that receive tax dollars to refuse services to same-sex couples. Local and national LGBT groups including Georgia Unites Against Discrimination, SOJOURN, Freedom For All Americans, Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD all criticized the move in the following days.
A motion was made in the Friday morning session to engross the bill, i.e. allow the bill to pass without any amendments, leading to objections from several senators including Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta), Sen. David Lucas (D-Macon) and Sen. Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta).
“There is great irony in debating bringing a bill on religious freedom to the floor at the same time we’re taking away the freedom of 56 people to debate a bill,” Sen. Fort said. “If this is a good bill, if this is a bill that you think the people of the state of Georgia support, why don’t you debate it and discuss it?”
During that hearing, the bill was amended to include the anti-gay guts of the much more controversial First Amendment Defense Act. Sen. Greg Kirk’s (R-Americus) bill would allow faith-based organizations that receive tax dollars to refuse services to same-sex couples. Local and national LGBT groups including Georgia Unites Against Discrimination, SOJOURN, Freedom For All Americans, Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD all criticized the move in the following days.
A motion was made in the Friday morning session to engross the bill, i.e. allow the bill to pass without any amendments, leading to objections from several senators including Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta), Sen. David Lucas (D-Macon) and Sen. Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta).
“There is great irony in debating bringing a bill on religious freedom to the floor at the same time we’re taking away the freedom of 56 people to debate a bill,” Sen. Fort said. “If this is a good bill, if this is a bill that you think the people of the state of Georgia support, why don’t you debate it and discuss it?”
(sogh) Three of my favorite Georgians are LGBT.
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This shit must stop. Fuck the religious taliban. 