The climate in the state Capitol is such that you half-expect to turn a corner and find Lord Cornwallis's fife-and-drum corps belting out "The World Turned Upside Down."
A Legislature with massive Republican majorities is on the verge of thumbing its nose at anti-tax guru Grover Norquist by raising $1 billion in new spending for transportation.
It has legalized a form of marijuana. And in the midst of unrelenting hostility toward Obamacare, GOP lawmakers have brokered an insurance mandate to provide for children with autism.
But none of this holds a candle to the fact that the General Assembly has thus far resisted Christian conservative demands for “religious liberty” legislation that critics say is intended to prepare for the day that the U.S. Supreme Court bestows constitutional protection on gay marriage.
Late last week, the House Judiciary Committee tabled Senate Bill 129, the religious liberty bill authored by Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, after gutting the measure through the insertion of an anti-discrimination clause.
“I’m surprised, to say the least,” an exhausted Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, said immediately afterwards. Pleasantly so, he might have added.
About the Author
