Gov. Nathan Deal has promised to veto Georgia’s House Bill 757, a religious liberty bill.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Deal said in a Monday speech that the bill “doesn’t reflect the character of our state or the character of its people.”
“Their efforts to purge this bill of any possibility that it would allow or encourage discrimination illustrates how difficult it is to legislate something that is best left to the broad protections of the First Amendment,” he added.
HR 757 would afford private businesses the ability to deny individuals services — specifically in relation to gay marriage — or employment on the grounds of the “preservation of religious freedom.”
Though the bill passed through Georgia’s legislature with little to no opposition, Deal’s veto does not come as a surprise.
Multiple Fortune 500 companies have pressured Deal to veto the bill.
Additionally, the NFL threatened to deny any Super Bowl bids for the soon-to-be finished Mercedes Benz Stadium if the bill were to be signed into law. (RELATED: NFL Says Religious Freedom Bill Could Cost Atlanta A Super Bowl)
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