UPDATE | Passage of anti-gay bill prompts strong backlash

Georgia lawmakers in the House and Senate passed a sweeping “religious freedom” bill on Wednesday that allows faith-based groups, churches and individuals to discriminate against LGBT people.

The passage of House Bill 757 – renamed the Free Exercise Protection Act – came with little advance notice on Wednesday and was pitched by Republicans as a compromise to legislation that has sparked a national backlash. But the rewrite of the legislation still allows faith-based organizations to discriminate and threatens LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination ordinances in cities across Georgia.

The legislation passed 104 to 65 (third photo) in the Georgia House after little more than an hour of debate. The provisions that allow LGBT discrimination contradict what House Speaker David Ralston and Gov. Nathan Deal had said in recent days they wanted – warning lawmakers away from a bill that offers even the perception of discrimination.

But opponents of the measure made it clear that discrimination was the primary aim of the legislation.

“This language does away with the idea of mutual respect and replaces it with a license to discriminate against a community of Georgians,” Rep. Karla Drenner (second photo), a lesbian, said in remarks that at times personal, emotional and fiery.

“This bill says I am not as much of a citizen as my neighbor,” she added. “When we allow discrimination, we abandon our principles and we forsake our claim as an enlightened society. Freedom is an all or nothing principle. There are no shades of liberty. When I am not as free as my neighbor, we all lose.”

'What this bill allows is discrimination'

House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams mocked that the legislation says it can't be used to allow “discrimination on any grounds by federal or state law” by pointing out that Georgia law doesn't include LGBT protections and that non-discrimination ordinances are in place in cities. So the legislation would threaten those municipal protections.

“What this bill allows is discrimination,” Abrams said. “This bill for several pages transgresses on the rights of others under the guise of religion.”

“We cannot balance discrimination on the backs of those we force to bend. House Bill 757 as amended forces a community to bend to the will of others,” Abrams said.

Rep. Taylor Bennett, whose mother is a lesbian, also blistered the legislation. The rewritten substitute includes portions of the Pastor Protection Act, which passed the House unanimously in February, and two anti-gay measures – the First Amendment Defense Act and two “religious freedom” bills. Bennett said lawmakers came together to pass the Pastor Protection Act, but moved away from that with the new bill offered on Wednesday.

“What we sent to the Senate was a shield. What we got back today was not a shield but a sword,” Bennett said. “Freedom isn't defined by a perspective, it is defined by true equality. This bill abandons that principle.”

Reps. Keisha Waites and Park Cannon, the two other openly gay members of the House, also criticized the legislation. Waites said “the very premise” of the bill is to discriminate, while Cannon pointed out that the legislation would allow domestic violence centers operated by faith-based organizations to turn away LGBT victims.

Rep. Culver Kidd, a Democrat from Milledgeville, said he grew up at a time when LGBT people were referred to with offensive slang nicknames. But over time, he's worked at the State Capitol with his gay brother-in-law and spends time with a gay friend who was married after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex unions last year. He told lawmakers the Pastor Protection Act was enough.

“From the heart, I believe this bill is wrong,” Kidd said.

'Not allowing for very overt discrimination'

But Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Kevin Tanner (top photo), repeatedly called the rewritten legislation a compromise that didn't allow discrimination. Tanner proposed the original House Bill 757, then known as the Pastor Protection Act, and House Bill 756, which allowed businesses to discriminate against LGBT people.

Last month, the Senate combined the Pastor Protection Act with the anti-gay portions of the First Amendment Defense Act from Sen. Greg Kirk into bill. It passed the Senate on Feb. 19 and ignited a national controversy. The Senate action sent the hybrid legislation to the House, which responded with the rewritten bill that passed on Wednesday.

The new legislation now goes to the Senate, which could vote on it as soon as Wednesday.

“I will tell you that this been a long process and we worked very closely with our friends in the Senate and others to try and come up with a compromise,” Tanner said.

Tanner said he supported the legislation for “not allowing for very overt discrimination and keeping Georgia the No. 1 place to do business.”

Rep. Randy Nix, who said he has gay family members, also supported the bill.

“I love those boys a lot and the last thing I would ever do is to see them discriminated against. They did not choose to be what they happen to be. But this bill has addressed as fairly as we can this very strong passion that I do not want to participate that gay marriage,” Nix said.

Rep. Jay Powell said lawmakers listened to all sides in the debate over the legislation, even “the gay part of our community.”

“I feel like we have a pretty good agreement if everybody hates it. It strikes a fine balance,” Powell said.

“Today we see a balanced approach, something that protects religious liberty without authorizing discrimination. It protects our clergy, it protects our religious and faith-based organizations. It protects that the individual,” Powell added.

Majority Leader Jon Burns said the legislation “is the right bill for all of God's children.”