This thread has been dormant for a while, but the Georgia legislature has chosen to reawaken it as it passes the First Amendment Defense Act:
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state government, so as to prohibit discriminatory action against a person who believes, speaks, or acts in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such marriage; to provide for definitions; to provide for the granting of relief; to provide for construction and application; to provide for waiver of sovereign immunity under certain circumstances; to provide for a short title; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
Jay W. Belle Isle of the Legal Reader has little use for this law:
In a move reminiscent of something one would see in the 1950s, the Georgia Senate just passed a ridiculous piece of… legislation by a 38-14 vote. The Georgia First Amendment Defense Act is highly discriminatory and dangerous. The next step in this blow against basic human rights and dignity is to send the bill, known as FADA, back to the Georgia House. Given that a version of FADA already had unanimous approval in the House, it’s certain that it will pass again and be sent to Georgia’s Gov. Nathan Deal, possibly as early as Monday when the House reconvenes.
FADA is reminiscent of the numerous anti-LGBT bills promulgated in 2015 by bass-ackwards legislators who would like to see a return to a time when men were men, women were barefoot, pregnant, in the kitchen and silent unless spoken to and anyone who stepped outside those boundaries was subject to censure and death threats. Guess what? I’m about to step outside those boundaries in a big way. For those who may be uncomfortable with that notion, I suggest a Xanax and a seat belt, because it’s gonna be a bumpy ride, y’all!
But that’s mere commentary. Where does the rubber hit the road? Thanks to RawStory, right here:
A telecom company will be picking up and moving out of Georgia after state lawmakers passed sweeping anti-gay legislation, the New Civil Rights Movement reports.
Decatur-based 373K announced it would be leaving via Twitter. Its founders are outraged over the poorly-named First Amendment Defense Act, which extends legal cover state-wide to individuals and corporations to discriminate against LGBT people and same-sex couples. …
“I’m gay, our CFO is gay, we have people from every walk of life working here,” co-founder Kelvin Williams told NCRM on Saturday. “I’ve got Muslims, Buddhists, atheists here. We’ve got great Christians working for us. They’ve never thought of not serving anyone – that’s not the message of Christ.”
“We don’t tolerate that crap,” he added definitively.
So another push against the framework the Founders designed to build a stable society by attempting to put religion beyond the reach of the law – and a reaction from a corporation (surprisingly hard to track down, I have no idea if this is 10 or 10,000 employees) that made little attempt at diplomacy.
For those of us who believe our principles should have good results, this is interesting in that the corporate world, which depends on forecasting in order to survive, appears to prefer the Federal principles, rather than the religious principles advanced by the GOP. Some might argue that a “good result” depends on which side of argument you reside, yet I think this is sympomatic of short term thinking.Ironically, this is a pernicious problems for public corporations, but this is more a problem in financial reporting; the Personnel departments, as well as the managers, can and should think long term. For them, discrimination means greater potential for failure.
Georgia legislators need to stop jumping every time someone claims to have had their religious sensibilities offended. Perhaps, even, suggest that a religious sensibility is an oxymoron.
(h/t Melissa Summers)
