Georgia’s GOP gov. vetoes bill to stop pastors from being forced to perform gay ‘weddings’
Facing a nationwide boycott that threatened the economic
well-being of his state, the governor of Georgia announced Monday that he would
veto a bill to enshrine First Amendment protections for pastors and religious
organizations with a traditional view of marriage.
The Free Exercise Protection Act (H.B. 757) would have specified
that clergy do not have to perform same-sex “marriages,” and that religious
organizations do not have to rent out their facilities for such a ceremony, nor
do they have to hire anyone if doing so would violate the group's sincerely
held religious beliefs about human sexuality.
The bill also forbade the state from requiring businesses to
remain open on Saturday or Sunday if doing so would prevent attendance at
religious services.
Gov. Deal, a Republican, said Monday that he favored the early
version of the bill. But the NFL threatened to pull the Super Bowl out of the
state if it passed. A coalition of Hollywood studios including Disney and
Marvel Studios, as well as 400 businesses ranging from Apple to Delta to
Coca-Cola, made similar threats to cut all business ties in the Peach State.
The film industry alone generated $1.7 million in 2015, according to the state.
By early this month, Gov. Deal
invoked the New Testament to condemn
the bill.
“If Gov. Deal were honest, he would say that the pressure coming
from the corporate elite was overwhelming and that it threatened to cause
economic ruin to his state,” said Bill Donohue. “Even men and women of faith
could understand why he would veto the bill.”
Instead, the two-term Republican cast himself as a steadfast
leader who refused to be cowed by the state's religious lobby.
“I do not respond well to insults or threats,” he said at a
10-minute-long press conference yesterday announcing his decision.
“That is a lie – he responds very well to threats,” Donohue
said. “It is precisely the kinds of threats issued by the NFL, Disney, and
Marvel Studios that made him cave.”
The governor implied that signing the bill would undermine “the character
of our state,” “could give rise to state-sanctioned discrimination,” and may
even lead to a widespread rebirth of racial and religious discrimination in the
once-tranquil state.
“Georgia is a welcoming state filled with warm, friendly and
loving people. Our cities and countryside are populated with people who worship
God in a myriad of ways and in very diverse settings. Our people work
side-by-side without regard to the color of our skin, or the religion we adhere
to,” he said. “I intend to do my part to keep it that way.”
The governor's decision was praised by corporate leaders like
Bill Leahy, state president of AT&T Georgia. Democratic lawmakers also
praised Gov. Deal. State Rep. Stacey Evans said, “Together, we made history
today.”
But constitutional watchdogs and clerical associations said the
move put them in a “precarious position.”
“It’s open season on people of faith in our state,” State Sen.
Josh McKoon told Fox News contributor Todd Starnes.
Others said the real victim was the Constitution.
“Religious freedom is the principle on which this country was
founded,” said Kelly Shackelford, the president and CEO of First Liberty
institute, which is dedicated to the free expression of religion in the United
States. “Through this veto, Governor Deal turned his back on our founding
freedom. Regardless of our differences on certain issues, we should all agree
that ...the free exercise of religion is good for society, good for business,
and good for the citizens of any state.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins was more blunt.
“The devil has gone down to Georgia again, but this time it was
in the form of Big Business and cowardly politicians,” he said. “Governor
Deal’s veto of a watered down religious liberty bill, which would have barely
afforded pastors and priests protections from the state over their beliefs over
natural marriage, reveals how LGBT activists and their allies in big business
are now not even willing to allow religious freedom within the four walls of a
church.”
Polls show the measure had broad support among the people of
Georgia. “Two-thirds of Georgians support it, and even a majority of Democrats
responded that they wanted the governor to sign it,” said Jane Robbins, a
senior fellow at American Principles Project.
However, all Democratic legislators and a few Republicans voted
against the bill.
Some of the bill's sponsors spoke of holding a special session
to override the governor's veto. But calling such a session requires
three-fourths of legislators, and overriding the veto would take two-thirds.
Both margins are likely unreachable.
The veto follows similar actions by Republican Governors Mike
Pence of Indiana and Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas when faced with similar
boycotts.
“No person or nonprofit should lose tax exempt status, face
fines, lose a professional license or be punished by the government simply for
believing what President Obama believed just a few years ago: that marriage is
the union of a man and a woman,” Perkins said. “State coercion of faith-based
organizations and their millions of adherents for the sake of a radical
ideological agenda – all in the name of ‘freedom’ – is an affront, not just to
Georgians, but to all Americans.”
Donohue urged everyone to contact Gov. Deal's chief of staff,
Chris Riley, atcwr@georgia.gov.
