House Bill 757, passed by conservatives in the Georgia legislature, will be vetoed by Governor Nathan Deal, he announced Monday. The bill, criticized almost universally as a pro-discrimination law that would support individual and business-wide discrimination against homosexuals, veterans, or virtually any other group under the guise of “firmly held religious beliefs.”
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“The bill doesn’t reflect the character of our state or the character of its people,” Governor Deal said in a statement. “[The legislature’s] efforts to purge this bill of any possibility that it would allow or encourage discrimination illustrates how difficult it is to legislate something that is best left to the broad protections of the First Amendment.”
The Republican Governor was pressured heavily by several companies. Some, like Disney’s Marvel Studios and the Weinstein Company pledged to boycott the state, pulling out productions there, including 2016 films. AMC, Apple, Time Warner (who has major offices there), Viacom, 21st Century Fox, Lionsgate, Starz, and even the NFL urged the Governor to veto the bill. However, the Governor’s reasoning was firmly planted in his own take on the will of his constituents, not of the companies, as reflected in his statement.
Despite the outcry from the public and companies nationwide, Georgia’s Senate have already said they’ll try to override his veto. If that happens, Marvel Studios and others may be looking for a new production home soon.
