Georgia lawmakers are revisiting a nearly decade-old fight over whether the state needs to protect religious rights from being trampled by state and local governments in a measure opponents say would provide a legal shield for people and groups to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people in the name of religion.
That religious protection bill resurfaced Thursday eight years after lawmakers passed a different version of the measure. Then-Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, vetoed it in 2016 under pressure from Georgia’s business community, who said they feared it would hurt their ability to attract employees and tourists.
Also Thursday, a House subcommittee advanced a measure that would ban transgender students in public schools from using the bathroom that meets their current gender identity. Supporters say the measure is needed to protect students who aren’t transgender, while opponents in sometimes tearful testimony told lawmakers the measure would stigmatize and endanger transgender students who are already subject to bullying.
GEORGIA PROPOSAL FOR PARENTAL OVERSIGHT OF LIBRARY BOOKS ADVANCES, CRITICS CRY CENSORSHIP
Both measures are being pushed in an election year when all of Georgia’s lawmakers are up for reelection and Republican leaders have become more conservative.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-3 to pass Senate Bill 180, sending it on to the full Senate for more debate. It mirrors a 1993 federal law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Ed Setzler of Acworth, has pushed for the measure for years, because the federal law doesn’t apply to state and local governments, which might deny things like permission to distribute religious literature or a zoning permit for a church without giving enough deference to religious freedom.
“Every Georgian should be free to worship and exercise their faith without unfair federal, state or local government intrusion,” Setzler said.
But opponents warn that private businesses will use the…
Read the full article here
