Updated at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 23 to reflect the bill's final passage and at 3:30 p.m. on June 11 to reflect to bill's signing into law.

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed the so-called "Save Chick-fil-A" bill into law, a new provision supporters say protects religious freedoms and and opponents say welcomes discrimination against LGBT Texans.

Abbott, a Republican, did not hold a public signing ceremony, but had previously tweeted his support. The new law, which will go into effect on Sept. 1, stops the government from taking adverse action against a business or person for their contributions or memberships in religious organizations. The bill was born out of the city of San Antonio's vote to boot Chick-fil-A from the airport based on its charitable donations to certain Christian organizations.

The 2019 legislative session, which ended May 27, was marked mostly by partisan lawmaking on kitchen table issues like school finance and property taxes. While state legislators largely avoided debate on red meat social issues, like the so-called transgender bathroom bill that dominated the 2017 session, the Chick-fil-A bill easily sailed through the GOP-dominated body.

So. What are the odds I’ll sign the Chick-fil-A bill?



I’ll let you know after dinner.



⁦@ChickfilA⁩ #txlege pic.twitter.com/xKS3vDV4gS — Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) May 21, 2019

Religious groups, and the Republican lawmakers that supported the bill, said it underlined constitutionally-protected rights. But LGBT advocates said the effort was a thinly-veiled attempt by religious conservative to attack lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Texans.

Rep. Chris Turner, D-Arlington, led his party's final gasps against the bill as it passed in the Texas House on May 23.

"Religious freedom, at different times in our nation's history, has been twisted to justify discrimination, to justify slavery," said Turner, who heads the House Democratic Caucus. "Religious liberty is being used to justify discrimination."

Democrats insisted the bill is a vehicle to discriminate.

"We can't discriminate against one in order to protect the other," added a tearful Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-Clint, who was the second openly LGBT member to be elected to the Legislature. "The scariest part of this bill ... is the individuals who will take this bill and use your vote for this bill to perpetuate hate."

Members of the House's newly formed LGBTQ Caucus, surrounded by House Democrats in locked arms, offered emotional testimony, making personal pleas from the podium to their GOP colleagues to kill the bill.

"The message poisons this state," said Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Carrollton. "It sends a message that Texas is not open and welcoming to all. It puts Texas on the wrong side of history."

Rep. Jessica Gonzalez, D-Dallas, said the bill was an affront to her personally as a Latina woman who is openly gay.

"Of course this bill is aimed at me," she said. "It's about reminding those of us who have never belonged not to get too comfortable."

Gonzalez also invoked the death of Muhlaysia Booker, a black transgender woman who was found shot dead in Dallas on May 18 just weeks after she was brutally beaten in a parking lot in an attack that was caught on cellphone video.

"Ms. Booker's death is a tragic reminder that bills like Senate Bill 1978 foment hatred and endanger the lives of all minority Texans," she said later in a written statement.

But Fort Worth GOP Rep. Matt Krause, the House sponsor, defended the bill as a way to protect the rights of religious Texans.

"What we want to make sure is if you donate to the Salvation Army, you won't be labeled as a bigoted," Krause said Monday during the House's initial debate. He said Chick-fil-A was unfairly labeled as anti-LGBT because of its donations to organizations like the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which also receive donations from companies such as Walmart and Home Depot.

Chick-fil-A's nonprofit arm also donates to the "Paul Anderson Youth Home, a Christian residential home" that teaches young boys that same-sex marriage is a "rage against Jesus Christ and his values," according to recent articles that shed light on the donor activity.

Krause responded to Democrats' concerns by saying he was confident his bill was not a vehicle to discriminate.

But earlier in the debate, Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, asked for assurances the bill would not give license to a justice of the peace to refuse to marry interracial or gay couples based on religious beliefs.

Krause said he wouldn't entertain hypothetical situations, and Anchia said he was disturbed that Krause was unable to answer the question.

Democrats had previously tried to take down the lightning-rod legislation. Earlier in May, the House torpedoed the bill on a "point of order," a legislative mechanism, by identifying a procedural mistake that prevented it from being considered on the floor. But Senate Republicans moved quickly to fast-track a companion bill in its place.

The Texas House gave this bill final passage by a vote of 79-64 on May 23, with seven members either absent or present but not voting. Houston-area Republican Rep. Sarah Davis broke with her party to oppose it.

The Texas Senate passed the bill earlier that same week by a vote of 19-12. Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, broke with his party to vote in favor, while Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo split with fellow Republicans to vote against the bill.

On Tuesday, a religious group that helped lead the charge for the so-called bathroom bill applauded the Chick-fil-A bill's passage into law.

"No Texan should fear state-sponsored attacks against them because of what they believe," Texas Values Action, an Austin-based Christian advocacy group, said in a statement Tuesday. "The Save Chick-fil-A bill ensures, just like the First Amendment intended, that no one is discriminated against for associating or donating to a religious organization."

Correction, 7:20 p.m. Thursday, May 23: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the bill was headed to the governor's desk after the House approved it. The bill had to go back to the Senate to concur with amendments before heading to the governor.