Many corporations have spoken out against the bill in Georgia and the new law in North Carolina. Multimillion-dollar events and investments were threatened.
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“Georgia is a welcoming state”. Atlanta based Coca-Cola and Home Depot spoke out against the bill, as did and many other Fortune 500 companies based in the state.
“In New York, we believe that all people – regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation – deserve the same rights and protections under the eyes of the law”, he said Monday. “That is too great a risk to take”. Pat McCrory later in the day.
The Republican-led legislature and GOP Gov.
“This is about the character of our state and the character of its people”, governor Deal continued.
“There was an economic threat that was put on Georgia by Disney, the National Football League and any other person in Hollywood”, said Garland Hunt, a pastor at The Father’s House in Norcross, Georgia.
But their efforts were focused within the city.
Marvel, Disney and Apple were just a few of the high-profile businesses that condemned the “religious freedom bill” as descriminatory, and urged the governor to veto the legislation. Legislative leaders finally drafted what they considered a compromise, and only 11 GOP lawmakers joined every Democrat in opposition.
But he had problems with the “compromise” agreed to by lawmakers that included a number of religious freedom measures.
A portion of the bill vetoed Monday lets people claiming their religious freedoms have been burdened by state or local laws force governments to prove there’s a “compelling” state interest overriding their beliefs.
The legislation, which was introduced March 16 and passed both Republican-controlled chambers, would allow faith-based organizations to deny services to those who violate their “sincerely held religious belief” and preserve their right to fire employees who aren’t in accord with those beliefs. The firms and associations lobbied so much because the Republican majorities passed the bill which, according to its supporters, it aimed to protect people whose actions were rooted in their religion. The other versions of the bill, however, contained language that could give rise to state-sanctioned discrimination.
“We’re not going to quit”, said Mike Griffin, spokesman for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. And that is what we should want.
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White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama was never under the impression that last year’s Supreme Court decision effectively legalizing gay marriage would end the struggle for equality, justice and fairness.
