The Florida activist behind the push to bring the Festivus pole to the Georgia Capitol last month is back with a proposed display for "tolerance and love" timed for the start of the legislative session.
The Georgia Building Authority on Monday approved Chaz Stevens' request for a display that he said would "push back on intolerance and hate" and send a message to lawmakers who are set to consider the latest incarnation of the religious liberty proposal.
It will be hoisted in the Capitol on Jan. 11 - the same day legislators return for 40 days of lawmaking.
"As a white, heterosexual male, I've been a life-long ally to the gay community," he wrote in a fundraising appeal. "I firmly believe in the right to love and marry whom you want, as I've learned, love is something to be respected and admired, not banished to the fringes."
The last two sessions featured harsh fights over the religious liberty proposals, which opponents say would lead to discrimination against gays and lesbians. The measure's supporters largely contend it has nothing to do with same-sex unions, arguing that it's needed to prevent government intrusion into faith-based activities.
Stevens is behind a movement to mount Festivus poles - symbols celebrating the anti-commercial holiday popularized in a 1990s Seinfeld episode - in statehouses across the nation. Georgia officials were forced to approve Stevens' application after they allowed a display of a Nativity scene at the Capitol a week earlier.
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