Governor Deal: Protecting Religious Freedom Does Not Require Discrimination

Raising an unstated but obvious threat of a veto over certain versions of “Religious Liberty” bills on the table in the legislature, Governor Nathan Deal today said that Georgia will remain a state that protects the freedom of religion but that does not require allowing discrimination. As tweeted by Greg Bluestein of the AJC:

“I do not want us to do anything that will be perceived as allowing discrimination in the state of Georgia. That is not who we are as a people. And I don’t think we have to do that in order to give the security that the faith based community thinks we need.” – Governor Deal

Consider this rules of engagement. Any bill protecting religious liberty in Georgia will not be one that also discriminates against the LGBT community. Any future legislation must thread the needle where opposing sides will have to agree to disagree, or the Governor will likely disagree with his veto pen.