Georgia legislators just nudged a bill through the state Senate that could allow faith-based groups or individuals to withhold services from members of the LGBT community. House Bill 757 (HB 757), dubbed the “religious liberty” bill, passed in a 38-14 vote on Feb. 19.
Some metro Atlanta businesses aren’t hesitating to speak up against the bill, claiming it’s riddled with language that could legalize discrimination. Heads of 373K, a tech startup business based out of Decatur, decided to move to Nevada once HB 757 passed through the Senate.
Although the bill has not yet become a law, founder Kevin Williams told the AJC, “I don’t want to be in a state where it is hard to attract the best talent.”
The bill is a hybrid of a former version of HB 757, also known as the Pastor Protection Act, and Senate Bill 284, the First Amendment Defense Act.
Kevin Tanner, the main sponsor of the bill, told The Signal he believes the key to preventing the bill from discriminating against others is finding a balance that protects the rights of those with strongly-held religious beliefs and members of the LGBT community.
“Just because one group has rights doesn’t mean they can take others’ rights,” he said. “That’s where we need to find a balance. It’s important to work on and that we can accomplish that with a non-emotional conversation.”
Henry Carey, a Georgia State political science professor, said he thinks that major changes will only be made to the body of the bill if local businesses demonstrate a large amount of backlash.
“The bill would only [undergo severe changes] if the business community opposes it,” he said. “There are signs that it will. Though social and religious conservatives support it, they do not make as large campaign contributions as does the various business lobbies.”
Since the passage of the bill through the Senate, over 400 companies, including Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo and Twitter, have formed Georgia Prospers, a coalition to protest the legislation.
Jacob Hansard and Thomas Hails, the owners of Happy Hookah, a Downtown smoke shop, joined the coalition on Feb. 27th, when they found out about the bill. They said they support 373K’s decision to move their company.
“There are a lot of places that if they start up here, automatically you are associated with that law even if you are not a supporter of it,” Hansard said. “If you don’t have your own reputation, somebody is going to look at a business based in Georgia differently than a state without these laws.”
Hansard and Hails said they believe that the businesses that will be hurt the most are those that support the bill.
“At the end of the day, the businesses that are for it are going to have the hardest time,” Hails stated. “The moment you put that up on your door, you have a scarlet letter. Everybody knows [your beliefs].”
Tehnehn Forte, the vice president of Alliance, a student-run LGBTQ advocacy group, thinks that the bill could cause damage to the LGBT community.
“It is going to cause a lot of people to feel bad, it is going to cause a lot of people to doubt their existence,” they said. “It may even cause people to reject their existence because they want to be accepted.”
