Gov. Nathan Deal is hedging on his earlier insistence that "religious liberty" legislation include an anti-discrimination clause.
The governor said Wednesday the legislation may not need such language if the rest of it replicates the federal version that Congress passed in 1993 and carries President Bill Clinton's signature. The remarks came after Georgia Republican Party delegates passed a resolution urging lawmakers to support a version of the legislation without the anti-discrimination clause.
"That depends," Deal said when asked if he still considers the clause a requirement. "It has not been necessary in the original federal version of the statute. And if we have something that's a replication of that statute, it may not be necessary."
The fight over Senate Bill 129 has created a sharp divide within the party over whether the legislation, designed to ban the government from infringing on someone's religious beliefs, also needs anti-discrimination protections.
The GOP's right flank sees it as unnecessary and vague. But critics view it as crucial to preventing the legislation from being used as an excuse to discriminate against gays and lesbians. And a trio of GOP lawmakers who added the language into the bill in March succeeded in getting it scuttled. It will almost certainly be revived in January in time for election-year politicking.
Deal's remarks were a reversal. In an interview in the final hours of the legislative session, the governor said he considered the anti-discrimination language essential and called it the "most important" addition needed to ensure it becomes law.
On Wednesday, he said he was still mindful of the backlash over similar bills in Arkansas and Indiana, which led to threats of boycotts and international criticism.
"I think we need to be sure that whatever we pass does not cause the kind of uproar and disruption that we saw take place in Indiana," he said.
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