Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia said on Monday he will veto a religious freedom bill that critics say condones discrimination against LGBT people.
The proposed law would allow individuals and groups to refuse to conduct business with anyone whose marriage they believe violates their religious beliefs. It would also overrule existing anti-discrimination protections in local governments.
“I do not think that we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia,” Deal said on Monday, saying it was a community he and his family “have been a part of for all of our lives”.
Deal, a Republican, rejected the proposal amid criticism from the public and prominent Georgia businesses.
“I have examined the protections that this bill proposes to provide to the faith-based community and I can find no examples of any of those circumstances occurring in our state,” he said.
The announcement came on the same day a coalition of civil liberties groups announced they had filed a federal lawsuit against North Carolina because of a sweeping new law enacted last week that blocks local governments from introducing anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people.
Lawmakers in Georgia passed the bill in February. As people waited for Deal to make the final ruling on whether it would become law more than 400 companies condemned the legislation, including Coca-Cola, Delta and Home Depot. Film companies including Disney threatened to boycott the state and the NFL indicated that the law could jeopardize Atlanta’s chances of hosting the Super Bowl in 2019.
The Georgia bill is one of several to emerge from a state legislature as same-sex marriage bans fell across the US in the last several years – culminating with a nationwide lifting of all remaining bans last year.
In anticipation of the June 2015 supreme court decision that led to marriage equality, supporters pushed for anti-discrimination legislation and opponents prepared to block it, primarily with religious freedom bills.
The most notable case was in Indiana, drawing a nationwide backlash for a religious freedom bill that critics said effectively legalized discrimination against LGBT people.
The Indiana state government, like Georgia, faced considerable pressure from businesses. Governor Mike Pence approved changes to the bill’s language that said it would not authorize discrimination against anyone.
Deal said his decision to reject the Georgia bill was “about the character of our state and the character of our people”.
“Georgia is a welcoming state,” he said. “It is full of loving, kind and generous people.”
