Maria Puente

USA TODAY

Was it the Hollywood threat to boycott Georgia or the NFL threat to withhold a Super Bowl? Gov. Nathan Deal didn't say Monday as he vetoed a bill that a chorus of major studios, sports leagues and business leaders denounced as legalizing discrimination against gay people.

Instead, Deal cited the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the First Amendment, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and the fact that the "religious liberty" bill proposed to fix a problem that didn't exist in Georgia, when he posted his veto message on his website.

"Therefore, as I have examined the protections this bill seeks to provide to religious organizations and people of faith I can find no examples that any of the things this bill seeks to protect us against have ever occurred in Georgia," he said.

“I do not think that we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia,” he added.

As for all the threats over the last two weeks since the legislation was passed, Deal dismissed them outright.

Hollywood studios threaten to boycott Georgia if controversial law signed

"Some of those in the religious community who support this bill have resorted to insults that question my moral convictions and my character," he said. "Some within the business community who oppose this bill have resorted to threats of withdrawing jobs from our state. I do not respond well to insults or threats."

Previously, Deal, a Republican, had said positive things about the purpose of bill, which would have allowed people and businesses to deny services to gay people if it was based on religious belief.

The prospect was so alarming the NFL hinted a threat to sack Atlanta for a future Super Bowl, and a host of Hollywood studios, stars and filmmakers rushed last week to threaten to evacuate their $1 billion business from "Hollywood South."

Deal said the bill allowed outsiders to cast doubt on the character of Georgia and Georgians.

"Georgia is a welcoming state filled with warm, friendly and loving people," he said. "Our people work side by side without regard to the color of our skin, or the religion we adhere to...That is the character of Georgia. I intend to do my part to keep it that way."

Deal said the nation's founders thought it unnecessary to enumerate in statue or constitution the definition of religious liberty.

"In light of our history, I find it ironic that today some in the religious community feel it necessary to ask government to confer upon them certain rights and protections," he said. "If indeed our religious liberty is conferred by God and not by man-made government, we should need the 'hands off' admonition of the First Amendment to our Constitution."

Gay rights groups, such as Human Rights Campaign, celebrated the veto.

Supporters of the bill, including churches and religious groups, were disappointed and vowed to try again, according to a statement from Timothy Head, executive director of the Faith & Freedom Coalition.

"Governor Deal had publicly stated his willingness to sign a religious freedom bill that did not authorize discrimination. This bill does not, and in fact includes an explicit provision prohibiting discrimination," Head said. "The governor's veto subverts the will of the people of Georgia, who overwhelmingly supported this bill. This fight is not over."

Republican majorities passed the bill to broadly protect people acting on their religion, to, say, refuse to cater a gay wedding. It also would have protected clergy who refuse to perform gay marriages and people who won’t attend a wedding for religious reasons.

Meanwhile, North Carolina, where last week a bill barring cities and counties from trying to protect gay and transgender people, was signed into law, is now going to have to defend it in court.

The American Civil Liberties Union and state gay organizations on Monday filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the law, which bars transgender students from using the bathrooms of their choice, as unconstitutional.

"It sends a purposeful message that LGBT people are second-class citizens who are undeserving of the privacy, respect, and protections afforded others in the state," the complainants said in a press release. They argued that the law violates the Fourteenth Amendment because it discriminates on the basis of sex and sexual orientation and is an invasion of privacy for transgender people. The law also violates Title IX by discriminating against students and school employees on the basis of sex.

“(The law) is hurtful and demeaning ... This law puts me in the terrible position of either going into the women’s room where I clearly don’t belong or breaking the law,” said plaintiff Joaquín Carcaño. “But this is about more than bathrooms, this is about my job, my community, and my ability to get safely through my day and be productive like everyone else in North Carolina.”

Contributing: The Associated Press