Georgia Governor vetoes anti-gay bill

Georgia’s Governor, Nathan Deal, vetoed the controversial Religious Freedom law that would weaken anti-discrimination protections for queer people.

No doubt the rising number of criticisms and threats from big businesses, like the NFL, Disney, Marvel, and Lionsgate, to pull their projects from the state. The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau reported last week it heard from 15 companies that were considering pulling convention business out of Atlanta if the Religious Freedom bill became law.

Georgia’s film industry has an annual economic impact of about $6 billion.

Deal said he knew of no instances in which the conflicts that the bill seeks to prevent had actually taken place. And he said he was concerned that the bill would feed discrimination, even unintentionally.

“That is too great a risk to take,” he said in a statement. “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 part of all of our lives … Georgia is a welcoming state. It is full of loving, kind and generous people. And that is what we should want.”