When the Supreme Court officially legalized same-sex marriage, I thought that anti-gay legislation would be officially shut down. Apparently I was wrong.
House Bill 757, otherwise known as the “religious liberty” bill, has passed through Georgia legislation and is now waiting to be either accepted or denied from Governor Nathan Deal. The bill, in part, states that religious officials will not have to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies and business owners will have the right to decline LGBT customers.
Not long after the news broke, major film production companies such as AMC, Time Warner, and Disney, who have recently been producing major films and television shows in Georgia, have spoken out against the discriminatory bill and threatened to take their business elsewhere. Georgia has become an increasingly popular location for film production. These companies are boosting Georgia’s economy by creating a significant spike in the states’ local jobs, tourism, and real estate businesses.
As a supporter of the LGBT community myself, I find it comforting that these film companies have the decency to stand up for equality. Georgia needs them, not the other way around. I feel very disappointed in my state. The amount of energy that has been wasted putting HB 757 together could have been used to try to improve education, healthcare, and a plethora of more important issues impacting every citizen in Georgia.
The LGBT community has fought (and is still fighting) for equal treatment and respect that everyone else automatically has. They are human beings. They aren’t circus animals or aliens. HB 757 takes every bit of progress that has been made in the LGBT community and throws it out the window completely. This bill is homophobic and unnecessary. It’s about creating loopholes in our justice system that condone discriminatory behavior. That’s an America and a Georgia that I am not proud to be a part of.
I’m sick of seeing more hate than love being spread throughout our society. We need to learn to love and accept one another, despite sexuality, race, or any other quality that makes someone different than us.
