Executives from eight major U.S. companies released a letter Wednesday urging Mississippi's governor to repeal a law they say would discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
The law, which Gov. Phil Bryant signed this week, would allow businesses and government employees to deny services to LGBT people, citing their own religious beliefs. It would also apply to churches and religious charities.
The bill specifically protects beliefs that “marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman.”
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal last week vetoed a much narrower Georgia “religious liberty” bill, saying the state can protect religious rights without discriminating against anyone. He also faced pressure from corporate opponents of the measure.
In the letter to Bryant, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Speaker Philip Gunn, signers of Wednesday's letter said they were "disappointed" to see the "discriminatory legislation" pass.
“The business community, by and large, has consistently communicated to lawmakers at every level that such laws are bad for our employees and bad for business,” the letter said. “This is not a direction in which states move when they are seeking to provide successful, thriving hubs for business and economic development.”
Signers include executives from Levi Strauss, GE, Hyatt Hotels, Choice Hotels, Dow Chemical, Whole Foods, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and PepsiCo.
The letter said the Mississippi law “will make it far more challenging for businesses across the state to recruit and retain the nation’s best and brightest workers and attract the most talented students from across the country.”
“It will also diminish the state’s draw as a destination for tourism, new businesses, and economic activity,” the letter said. “Discrimination is wrong, and we believe it has no place in Mississippi or anywhere in our country. As companies that pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming to all, we strongly urge you to repeal this bill.”
It did not threaten any specific action if the law stays in place.
In Georgia, the topic isn't likely to go away despite Deal's veto. Georgia House Speaker David Ralston and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle have vowed to bring forward a new version of the bill next year.
Late last month, North Carolina passed legislation that outlaws anti-discrimination ordinances that would offer protections to the LGBT community. As a result, financial technology company PayPal said this week it would cancel plans to open a major operations center in Charlotte and hire 400.
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