It’s always a challenge to predict what will happen in any upcoming legislative session, but the 2019 session is already shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable in decades. While Republicans still have large majorities in both the House and the Senate, Democrats flipped a total of eleven seats in the House and two in the Senate. Perhaps more importantly, there are an additional sixteen seats in the House and six in the Senate that could be competitive in the 2020 election. That fact alone could make for some interesting politics. However, beyond the simple partisan math, due to incumbents who either retired or lost seats in the primary or general elections, there will be some 30 new members of the legislature. While roughly half of them we know to be pro-equality, we don’t know much about the others and how they will vote on issues of concern to Georgia Equality’s members and the LGBTQ community.

Religious Exemptions and Non-Discrimination Legislation

Governor-elect Kemp ran on a strong and vocal pledge to sign into law a religious liberty bill, should it reach his desk. While we’ve been successful at fighting such discriminatory legislation the past five sessions, with the backing of the new Governor, a new Lt. Governor presiding over the Senate and so much change within the two chambers, it’s hard to tell how big a priority this legislation will be.

It’s a similar situation trying to predict the future of the nondiscrimination legislation that was introduced in the past session. With five out-LGBTQ members of the House and an unprecedented number of allies serving in office, we know that pro-equality legislation will be introduced. What is unknown at this time is how much support it might garner from Republicans who may be looking to shore up support among suburban families that are increasingly supportive of LGBTQ issues. Once again, we’ll be working with our partners on the Georgia Unites Against Discrimination campaign to fight anti-LGBTQ legislation while making the case for broader protections in housing, employment and public accommodations.

HIV and Medicaid Expansion

One of our other priorities this session is to reform a number of laws to better address the needs of people living with HIV and to enhance Georgia’s HIV prevention efforts.  For much of the past year we’ve been in conversations with advocates, service providers and people living with HIV/AIDS on what these policy priorities should be. We are hoping to introduce legislation aimed at addressing several key areas including HIV criminalization, access to PrEP and antiretroviral medications, increased HIV testing, and harm reduction services and addressing perinatal HIV transmission.

We’ve long advocated for the full expansion of Medicaid in Georgia. Not only would it bring millions of dollars to the state, but it would also be a game changer for many low-income and uninsured LGBTQ Georgians and people living with HIV. While a full expansion may still be a challenge to pass, there is great hope that some form of Medicaid waiver program will gain enough support to make it to the Governor’s desk this year. We will continue to work closely with the other members of the Cover GA coalition to expand coverage to the half-million Georgians who would qualify for an expanded Medicaid program.

Hate Crimes, Conversion Therapy and Local Ordinances

2018 saw the greatest movement on Hate Crime legislation in well over a decade. Unfortunately, the person behind much of that effort was Rep. Wendall Willard, who did not seek re-election. The Legislative Black Caucus has long supported inclusive Hate Crime legislation and is likely to reintroduce the same bill they sponsored last year, however, without Rep. Willard chairing the Judiciary Committee it may be difficult to even have a hearing on this topic.

There is also quite a bit of interest in legislation that would address Conversion Therapy. Conversion therapy is a set of dangerous and discredited practices that falsely claim to be able to change a person’s sexual orientation, change their gender identity or expression, or lessen their same-sex sexual attraction. These practices have been rejected by all mainstream medical and mental health organizations, and there is no credible evidence that they are effective. There have been bills introduced on this topic in the past, but they have not received much support or attention. Will that begin to change in 2019?

Finally, I expect that there will be a growing focus on passing local ordinances to address many of the issues that seem stuck in the legislative quagmire. City of Doraville Councilwoman, Stephe Koontz, has already been successful in getting her city to adopt a broad and inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance and we expect a number of other municipalities to follow suit in 2019. The election of pro-equality candidates has not been limited to the legislature and we now have an open gay man, Ben Ku, on the Gwinnett County Commission and other allies on city councils and county commissions around the state.

It All Depends on You

What happens with the challenges and opportunities of 2019 will all depend upon YOU. The threats against our community, our families, and our lives will continue from the highest levels of state and federal government. But we also know that we have more support than ever from our allies in the business and faith communities. For many of us, we have families and neighbors who are asking what they can do to help protect us and advance the issues that are so important to us.  Get them involved by encouraging them to sign up for our action alert network. We also need you to be active and engaged. Make a plan to join us at the capitol for one of our advocacy days or to call your newly elected state representative and senator to introduce yourself and tell them that LGBTQ issues are a priority for you and your family. Come to one of our advocacy training sessions in Atlanta or the other communities around the state where we will hold them in the coming months. After you respond to one of our action alerts, forward it to your friends and post it on social media.  2019 can be a year of great success, but only if we have your support.