The Governor of Georgia, Nathan Deal, vetoed Georgia State House Bill 757 today. Ostensibly, it was proposed and written to assure the rights of faith based communities to practice freely. The problem is, Governor Deal had to painfully admit, this was a sham because no such discrimination against the religious entities in Georgia had ever happened. No LGBTQ person(s) or activist group had ever challenged the religious freedom of a Georgia citizen.
The Governor’s carefully crafted argument for his veto employed a weak summation of a photographers claim and a bakers claim in other states that their rights were infringed on because taking pictures or baking a cake for a gay wedding was icky. Their empty bucket of righteousness would hold some water had their claims ever been lodged against previously divorced or sexually active people, but alas, those violations of religious principle have never been used. Governor Deal knew his governing body was wrong but used others so-called violations to subtly pointed out if those actions were to happen in Georgia he would revisit the legislation.
Governor Deal acquiesced because Comcast, the NFL and other business concerns threatened the economic well-being of his state. In his eight-minute address, Mr. Deal never used the acronym LGBTQ. He talked about color discrimination and religious tolerance on the job, “without regard to the color of their skin, or their fellow mate or the religion that their co-worker might adhere to…that this is the character of Georgia.” A nice avoidance technique but nonetheless transparent. The only reference from Governor Deal, in deference to the gay community, was a line acknowledging the Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriage. Does this mean that only those who choose marriage are afforded human rights?
Lots of members of society chose not to be married but we don’t tie this to their rights as citizens. This country has long danced around the rights of people of color, varying religions and ethnicity to assimilate freely in society, always with resistance and rancor. I will applaud Governor Deal’s practicality but not his false moralism.
HB 757 did not crash and burn in Georgia due to the poor skills of the state’s pilot. It failed because of the turbulence that rocked the cabin from the business community. I like to end my, sometimes boring, soliloquies with a call to vote. Democrats, Liberals, Progressives we let the Party down when we sit at home waiting for someone to take care of us, let’s do it ourselves. Voting is not just the vogue thing to do in Presidential elections but it counts in mid-terms and local municipality races, as well. The only way to stop ignorance is to not allow it. Vote!