Conservatives vowed to boycott at least five major companies based in Georgia for their roles in killing legislation opponents say would have allowed private businesses to decline on religious grounds to serve people they believe are gay or having premarital sex.
Supporters of Senate Bill 377 gathered Monday at the Capitol to discuss their plans after the bill failed to pass a critical hurdle. Monday was Crossover Day, which means any legislation that had not passed at least one chamber of the General Assembly typically will not be approved this year, and SB 377 was not put on the Senate's calendar for a vote.
“This is going to hurt the (Republican) ticket in November,” said Debbie Dooley with the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots. “They (legislators) chose to go where the money is.”
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, had said that if the bill had reached the Senate floor for a vote, he would propose changes to address concerns raised about the legislation. He planned to insert language that exists in laws in 18 states as well as in a federal statute. He said the bill was not meant to discriminate but to protect those who felt they were being forced to do things contrary to their faith.
Such "religious freedom" legislation has met pushback in other states. Just last week, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed similar legislation that had brought widespread condemnation along with speculation the state could lose the opportunity to host next year's Super Bowl.
And more than 28,000 people signed a national petition started by members of the progressive group Credo Action in protest of the Georgia bill, with an additional 1,600 signing a petition begun by a liberal advocacy group called Better Georgia.
Supporters of the bill specifically blamed Coca-Cola Co., Delta Air Lines, Home Depot, InterContinental Hotels and UPS for its failure. Those companies had come out against the bill, claiming such a law would hurt business and cost jobs.
“I will not fly Delta again,” Dooley said.
Delta said in a statement that it opposed the legislation out of pride for “diversity of its customers and employees.” The airline said it was concerned that such a law would “cause significant harm to many people and will result in job losses.”
McKoon, who said his bill was misunderstood, plans to spend the months leading up to the 2015 legislative session educating Georgians about the legislation.
But Julianne Thompson of the Capitol Coalition of Conservative Leaders said her group and its allies will not wait until next year.
“We plan a statewide, if not nationwide, boycott” against the five Georgia-based companies, Thompson said.
Kay Godwin with Georgia Conservatives in Action said she, too, was “not willing to wait until next year.”
“There’s so much damage that can be done,” Godwin said. “I don’t know if it can be repaired.”
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