House Speaker David Ralston
AP / David Goldman
The Georgia House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bill to protect people and faith-based organizations that act on their religious beliefs — one of dozens of bills in legislatures across the country filed this year as a backlash to the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision for marriage equality.
As amended and passed on a 104-65 vote, the bill would prevent the state from penalizing faith-based organizations that refuse charitable services or make employment decisions based on their faith.
Republican legislative leaders who backed the bill were attempting to reach a compromise between the House and Senate. The House version is narrower in scope, and in many ways substantially different, than a bill passed by the Senate last month. The Senate must adopt the new version approved Wednesday before it can go to the governor.
Democrats on Wednesday roundly rejected the new, narrower bill as discriminatory anyhow.
“This bill says that I am not as much of a citizen as my neighbor,” Democratic Rep. Karla Drenner, a lesbian, said in a floor speech.
She argued the bill was a "license to discriminate" that would allow religious service providers to refuse LGBT youth or a religious school to turn away LGBT students.
Supporters, however, argued the bill would protect Georgians’ rights to freely exercise their faith.
Kaleb McMichen, a spokesman for House Speaker David Ralston, told BuzzFeed News, "This bill is a comprehensive, thoughtfully-crafted solution to protect religious liberties in Georgia without even the appearance of inviting discrimination. It is limited to clergy, churches, faith-based organizations and individuals."
House Bill 757 has taken a particularly convoluted path.
It began in the House in February as a so-called Pastor Protection Act, which would essentially re-affirm the rights of clergy and religious organizations to refuse services to same-sex couples that clash with their faith. The Constitution and other laws are regarded to already guarantee those rights. The House passed the bill in that form.
But the Senate amended the bill later that month, approving new language that would also ban government from penalizing an individual or faith-based organization for acting in accordance with their religious opposition to same-sex marriage. That version defined “faith-based organizations” as any entity with governing documents that acknowledge a religious belief — a definition loose enough that LGBT advocates worried it could apply to businesses open to the public.
LGBT advocates, including Freedom for All Americans, howled that the expanded bill was a carte blanche for discrimination, and activists and businesses pressed Speaker Ralston to reject the Senate proposal.
A spokesman for Ralston told BuzzFeed News this month that the speaker leaned toward a compromise, supporting “religious liberties while ensuring that Georgia continues to welcome everyone with genuine southern hospitality.”
Which led to the brokered new bill.
In the legislation approved Wednesday, the bill drops mention of opposition to same-sex marriage and instead frames its scope around protecting religious freedom in general.
The version that passed Wednesday also limits the scope of faith-based organizations to exclude businesses.
It would protect the organizations — including those funded by the government — from penalties if they decline to employ someone on the basis of religion. It would also protect those organizations from government retaliation if they refuse charitable services for religious reasons.
"It does not impact businesses or any commercial transactions," Speaker Ralston's spokesman said by email. "This bill is a compromise that is the result of extensive discussions between the legislative and executive branches as well as the business community and many other interested parties.”
Other portions of the bill echo the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, known as a RFRA. The bill says the government “may not substantially burden a person’s right to exercise of religion” unless the government has a compelling reason and uses the least restrictive means possible.
“In its original form, this bill was respectful to all of us,” Drenner said about the original Pastor Protection Act. “This bill replaces it with a license to discriminate.”