Georgia Unites Against Discrimination is running a full-page ad today, March 18, in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution urging members of the House to oppose SB 129, the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The full-page ad describes that Senate Bill 129 “will give businesses and individuals a license to discriminate against anyone they don’t like.” Some of the harms that could result if this bill passes include a public high school counselor turning away a student struggling with his or her sexual orientation and a hospital refusing to treat the child of a same-sex couple.

The ad states that the freedom of religion, one of our most fundamental rights, is already protected in the state and federal constitutions. But that freedom does not give any of us the right to discriminate against others.

In bold, the ad emphasizes that “The passage of SB 129 will send a loud message across the country that Georgia is an unwelcoming place.”

Signers of the ad include the nation’s leading organizations advocating on behalf of LGBT people: GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign, NGLCC, ACLU, Believe Out Loud, BiNet USA, Bisexual Resource Center, Center for Black Equity, Center Link, Consortium, Equality Federation, Family Equality Council, GLSEN, GLMA, IGLHRC, Marriage Equality USA, MAP, National Center for Transgender Equality, NBJC, NCAVP, National Minority AIDS Council, NQAPIA, Out & Equal, Pride at Work, Sage and TPOCC.

By placing an ad in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which has a readership of over 1.4 million in print, we are sure to influence many Georgians who increasingly are growing concerned with this mean-spirited and discriminatory law.

Check out the ad in the March 18 edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution!