Georgia legislators passed a religious freedom bill, but it’s unclear if the state’s Republican governor will sign it.
The state Senate approved the measure 37-18 late Wednesday, according to CNN affiliate WSB. The bill’s supporters say it will protect pastors and churches from being forced to perform same-sex marriages and religious groups from having to serve or employ people with conflicting beliefs.
The bill can preserve religious freedom while protecting against discrimination, proponents say.
“Anyone who believes in the First Amendment can be pleased with this,” Mike Griffin, of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, told WSB. The board was one of several religious groups lobbying for the bill’s passage.
But the bill’s detractors say it will open the door to discrimination. The measure includes wording prohibiting it from allowing discrimination that’s already prohibited by state or federal law, WSB reports, but critics note that gay and lesbian rights aren’t legally protected in Georgia or by the federal government.
“It sends a strong signal that the LGBT community is far from gaining any form of legal recognition and acceptance from their government,” Georgia Equality executive director Jeff Graham told WSB.
The bill now heads to the desk of Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, who has said he won’t sign any bill that promotes discrimination. Asked Wednesday night if the governor would sign the bill in its current form, Deal’s spokeswoman Jen Talaber Ryan tweeted that he would review the legislation next month.
Other laws and bills
Religious freedom bills across the country have been controversial. Indiana passed legislation last year, but after backlash overhauled the law with a followup measure intended to ease concerns driven by businesses that it could lead to discrimination.
The Indiana law had drawn criticism from major companies like Apple, Walmart and Salesforce, as well as sports associations like the NCAA, NBA and NFL.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a religious freedom measure into law that same week after state lawmakers overhauled their proposal so that it mirrored federal law.
The first-term Republican governor had rejected the first version Arkansas lawmakers had sent to his desk, instead asking for two tweaks so there would be no daylight between his state’s law and the one President Bill Clinton signed in 1993.
There is some form of religious freedom acts in 21 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Another 15 states debated religious freedom bills during 2015 — Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Efforts failed in Montana, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
