CLICK HERE to read the original article on GeorgiaPol.

By Will Kremer

With all the bickering about RFRA/FADA/PPA, I think we should highlight a group that is slightly outside the norm. That group is called Georgia Republicans for the Future. It’s an interesting group to say the least. The group is not the chamber type nor is the group the evangelical type. It’s mostly young, conservative Georgians seeking to influence the debate on Religious Freedom.

First, it’s important to note Georgia Republicans for the Future doesn’t oppose Religious Freedom. In fact, the group understands the importance of protecting religious Georgians; however, the group opposes religious discrimination as much as they oppose any other form of discrimination. In a debate consumed by “I’m discriminated against” vs “No, I’m discriminated against,”Georgia Republicans for the Future opposes all forms of discrimination.

No, it is not a LGBT organization similar to the Georgia Log Cabin Republicans. Georgia Republicans for the Future is focused solely on preventing discrimination. They highlight statistics such as 59% of Republicans say there should be laws banning discrimination against the LGBT community and 79% of Republican millennials say there should be laws banning discrimination against the LGBT community.

I’ve spent upwards of five years explaining why the Republican Party as a whole, although specifically the Georgia Republican Party, should listen to Millennials. The 2016 election will be unlike any we’ve seen, not because of Trump, but because Millennials will comprise approximately 20% of the votes. Spoiler Alert: The majority of that 20% will be for the Democratic nominee.

By all means, Georgia Republicans for the Future wants to protect Christians and their rights, but the organization also has an eye on the next 10, 20, and 30 years. It’s important we all keep an eye on the future. Discrimination of any kind, whether it be against Christians or LGBT Americans is wrong. Georgia Republicans for the Future recognizes that.

Originally published on Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Religious conservatives celebrate bill, but some fear it’ll cripple economy.

By Kristina Torres

Corporate concerns over Georgia’s latest “religious liberty” legislation have taken on a new urgency following passage last week of a measure that would allow opponents of same-sex marriage to cite their beliefs in denying services to gay couples.

It comes as religious conservatives over the weekend celebrated the Georgia Senate’s vote to approve House Bill 757, sending the measure for a final look by the state House as soon as this week.

“To our Founding Fathers, there was simply nothing more important to our nation than the freedom to live by our religious convictions and to practice our faith free from the tyranny of those who mock our deeply held faith,” said J. Robert White, the executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. “It is wrong to accuse persons of discrimination who live and conduct their businesses according to their deeply held religious beliefs.”

But small businesses owners and corporate leaders have begun to speak out directly about what they said would be a crippling economic impact if the bill becomes law.

HB 757 would enable faith- based organizations and individuals to opt out of serving couples — gay or straight — or following anti-discrimination requirements if they cite a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction regarding marriage.

“It would really do irreparable harm to our brand as a state,” said Brian Tolleson, who owns a digital entertainment company called Bark Bark that works with studios and media companies on everything from production to marketing.

“This very assembly working on this bill has invested billions of taxpayer dollars growing an industry that would leave this state,” said Tolleson, who has clients from New York to Los Angeles. “They will boycott coming to shoot anything here. The powers that be in the industry really want to defeat Georgia’s rise as an entertainment destination. And we’re handing it to them on a silver platter.”

The executives of 373k, a telecom startup based in Decatur, decided to move to Nevada immediately after the Georgia Senate approved the measure Friday.

Founder Kelvin Williams said in an interview that he knows the legislation is not yet law — and may be substantially changed or halted — but that he was so disgusted by the legislation that he decided to call the moving vans.

“It makes no sense. It’s absolutely unnecessary. We are a startup and we are trying to get the best talent we can,” said Williams, who is gay. “And I don’t want to be in a state where it is hard to attract the best talent.”

Leaders of the 1.3 million-member Georgia Baptist Mission Board have led an effort for the past two years to call on lawmakers to pass bills they said would protect religious viewpoints and prevent discrimination against religious groups. This year, for the first time, they explicitly linked the effort to same-sex marriage after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that state prohibitions on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.

Tolleson’s remarks about the entertainment industry come as Gov. Nathan Deal earlier this year forcefully defended tax breaks that have made Georgia a hub for the film industry.

The film tax credit cost the state more than a quarter of a billion dollars. But Deal in January told lawmakers and others that it was worth the tradeoff, citing a trade industry group’s estimation that the film and television industry is responsible for more than 79,000 jobs, roughly $4 billion in wages and has helped bring 120 more firms to Georgia in the past seven years.

Senate leaders, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, have said the bill is narrowly written and aims to protect groups or people such as a faith-based adoption agency, local youth group or preachers who sincerely believe marriage should be between a man and a woman, or that sexual relations between two people are properly reserved to such a marriage.

Other business owners, however, said it wasn’t just the entertainment industry that could feel the effect of the legislation.

“For 95 percent of people, it is very difficult to distinguish all of the subtleties of this bill’s effect,” said Michael Russell, the CEO of the Atlanta-based HJ Russell & Co. — one of the largest minority-owned real estate firms in the nation. “At the end of the day, I’m very concerned about the message it sends: The leaders of this state are not providing a positive climate of inclusion.”

House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, whose chamber has yet to take up the Senate measure, said Monday, “We’ve been hearing those concerns all along, not just from the film industry but from other sectors in our economy here in Georgia.

“It’s a very emotional issue,” he added. “It’s an issue that is going to have consequences.”

Deal said Monday that the legislation is a work in progress and that he and his top aides are working with Ralston and other legislative leaders.

“We’re working with the leadership of the General Assembly now as that bill is continuing to move through the process,” he said. “So we’ll see.”

He added, “I don’t comment until things are finalized, but it’s not finalized yet.”

Staff writer Greg Bluestein contributed to this article.

CLICK HERE to read the original article on ABC News.

By KATHLEEN FOODY

Georgia’s governor indicated Monday that changes are coming to a bill allowing faith-based organizations to refuse service to gay couples without repercussion.

Supporters say it’s intended to prevent religious adoption agencies, schools and other organizations from losing licenses, state grants, or other government benefits for their religious beliefs about same-sex marriage.

The state’s business community continued to marshal opposition to the proposal, wary of the type of economic backlash Indiana experienced following 2015 passage of a broader “religious freedom” law. At an event touting the state’s booming film and television industry, Gov. Nathan Deal said his office is working with legislative leaders and declined to say whether he supports the Senate-approved version.

“It is not finalized yet,” the Republican said, prompting applause from representatives of the film and television industry gathered in the Capitol.

The measure as approved by the Senate allows individuals and faith-based organizations to decline service to couples based on religious beliefs about marriage. Senate leaders added that language, originally from a separate Senate bill, to a House bill allowing religious officials to decline performing gay marriages.

Opponents warn that the changes to the bill also could extend the legal protection to businesses with faith-based mission statements.

House Speaker David Ralston, the chamber’s top Republican, confirmed Deal’s office is working with General Assembly leaders and said lawmakers shouldn’t ignore concerns from top Georgia companies or “the consequences other states have experienced.”

“I think that should counsel us to move deliberately and carefully and thoroughly on this issue,” he said. “It’s a very emotional issue; it’s an issue that’s going to have consequences.”

Supporters of the Senate changes, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, said it was intended to protect faith-based organizations that provide social services from going out of business because of their opposition to gay marriage. They also noted that the bill protects any view of legal marriage, including same-sex unions effectively legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision.

In a statement this weekend, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board J. Robert White asked House members to accept the Senate’s version.

“All Georgia citizens, organizations and businesses need protection from adverse legislation that would infringe upon their religious beliefs regarding marriage, defined in the Bible as the union of one man and one woman,” White said. “It is wrong to accuse persons of discrimination who live and conduct their businesses according to their deeply held religious beliefs.”

The bill, approved Friday by the Senate and sent back to the House, has roiled the state’s business community and prompted a pushback this weekend.

Business leaders warned in opinion pieces submitted to newspapers and other publications that the proposal could cause an economic backlash comparable to what Indiana experienced after passage of a broader “religious freedom” law in 2015 and jeopardize efforts to bring major events, including the Super Bowl, to Georgia.

More than 300 companies have signed onto Georgia Prospers, a coalition announced earlier this year to oppose any legislation that could damage the state’s brand. Members include top employers AT&T, Coca Cola, Delta Air Lines, Home Depot and UPS.

“We are standing up for the principles of inclusion and fair treatment for every Georgia citizen and every visitor to Georgia,” Joe Folz, vice president of Porsche Cars North America said Monday. “Legislation that promotes – or even appears to allow – discrimination against certain classes of people hurts Georgia’s hard-earned reputation.”

Brian Tolleson, founder of entertainment firm Bark Bark with around 20 employees at its Georgia branch, said that damage could include the film and television industry drawn to the state in recent years by an aggressive tax credit.

“We’re building a world-class infrastructure and the most sophisticated facilities,” Tolleson said. “It would be a real shame to see that demolished because of a bill intended to do one thing that actually did another.”

CLICK HERE to read the original article on Mediaite.

By Sam Reisman

After a “religious freedom” bill passed the Georgia Senate Friday, almost immediately generating backlash, Governor Nathan Deal told reporters Monday that the contentious legislation was “not finalized yet.”

The bill that passed the Senate combined two pieces of legislation, known respectively as the Pastor Protection Act and First Amendment Defense Act of Georgia. Like other similar bills, its proponents claim that it is not about discrimination, but rather provides protections for Christian Georgians from government interference.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the companion bill currently working its way through the Georgia House of Representatives “would enable faith-based organizations and individuals to opt out of serving couples — gay or straight — or following anti-discrimination requirements if they cite a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction regarding marriage.” The rub there, of course, is “faith-based… individuals,” which the bill’s opponents note would allow both private citizens and public servants — who are not employed by a church or other religious institution — to flout anti-discrimination laws, specifically as it pertains to same-sex couples, single parents, and unmarried couples.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution::

Deal declined to talk specifics on the legislation, but made clear the measure is still evolving – and that he and his top aides are working with House Speaker David Ralston and other legislative leaders.

“We’re working with the leadership of the General Assembly now as that bill is continuing to move through the process,” he said. “So we’ll see.”

He added: “I don’t comment until things are finalized, and, by far, it’s not finalized yet.”

A Decatur, GA-based telecom startup, 373k, immediately pulled up stakes for Nevada upon news of the bill’s passage in the Senate. Describing their reasoning for abandoning the Peach State, the company’s co-founder was blunt: “We don’t tolerate that crap,” he said.

Deal’s current predicament is not dissimilar from the about-face Indiana Gov. Mike Pence had to do last year, after his state came under scrutiny — and the threat of organizations pulling business out — for passing its own “religious freedom” law. Pence ended up signing a “clarification bill,” intended to make it explicit that the new law did not give any Hoosier a license to discriminate.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 28 states this year have had religious exemption bills introduced in their legislatures.

By Maria Saporta

Concerned business leaders are stepping up their efforts opposing the “religious freedom” legislation that passed the Georgia Senate on Friday.

The Metro Atlanta Chamber gave a letter to every Georgia senator – stating that it had signed the Georgia Prospers pledge, an initiative led by former Republic Senate Majority Leader Ronnie Chance. The letter said the organization has more than 300 Georgia-based companies that have signed on.

Mary Moore, founder and CEO of Cook’s Warehouse, explained that the religious freedom legislation could become “a big problem” for Georgia’s economic future.

The Georgia Senate passed legislation on Friday that combined two religious freedom bills: the “Pastor Protection Act,” which would assure clergy they would not have to perform same-sex marriages; and the “First Amendment Defense Act,” which would allow religious nonprofits to deny services to same-sex marriages.

“If this moves forward, it will be a huge step backwards for Atlanta,” Moore said in a telephone interview on Sunday. “We will become a national poster child for discrimination.”

Already Moore said that some international business colleagues have asked her why Georgia is spending time on such legislation instead of dealing with substantive issues like transportation and poverty.

Moore said that Georgia legislators also should remember what happened last year in Indiana, when similar religious freedom legislation passed – a move that led to threats of businesses boycotting the state. The Indiana Legislature quickly changed the bill to avoid a major backlash over passing the law.

Backers of the bill say those fears have been overblown, and they argue that it will not be used to discriminate. Even Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle came out in favor of the bill.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal visited with the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s executive committee Thursday morning when the issue was discussed. But the governor apparently didn’t make any promises about what he would do.

“I thought everyone was on the same page,” said Moore, who was not at the meeting. But she added the governor usually makes decisions that support smart pro-business decisions.

Atlanta currently is in the running to host either the Super Bowl of 2019 or the Super Bowl of 2020. Because of the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium currently under construction, Atlanta, it is thought to have a good shot when NFL owners vote later this spring.

“If this passes the House, and Gov. Deal signs it, it will put the nail in the coffin for the Super Bowl in Atlanta,” Moore said.

It’s not just major sporting events and conventions that would be impacted with the passage of the religious freedom bill, it also could cause companies interested in investing in Georgia to reconsider.

According to a story by “Freedom for all Americans,” a Georgia-based telecom company – 373K – announced via Twitter that “it’s time to relocate.” David Badash of 373K said the company would be moving to Nevada – just because of the Senate’s vote.

Moore said Georgia also must consider how the bill would be perceived by millennials, a group the state is trying to attract.

“It would absolutely fly in the face of what we are trying to in Georgia,” Moore said. “It would be a huge turn-off.”

CLICK HERE to read the original article on AJC.

By Kristina Torres

Corporate concerns over Georgia’s latest battle over “religious liberty” legislation has taken a new urgency following passage Friday of a measure allowing opponents of same-sex marriage to cite their beliefs in denying services to gay couples.

And that includes a warning over the weekend from those in the entertainment industry that the state’s careful cultivation of the film industry may be about to implode because of it.

“This very assembly working on this bill has invested billions of taxpayer dollars growing an industry that would leave this state,” said Brian Tolleson, who owns an Atlanta-based digital entertainment company called Bark Bark and works with studios and media companies from New York City to Los Angeles.

“They will boycott coming to shoot anything here,” Tolleson said. “The powers that be in the industry really want to defeat Georgia’s rise as entertainment destination. And we’re handing it to them on a silver platter.”

CLICK HERE to read the original article at Atlanta Business Chronicle.

By Maria Saporta, Contributing Writer

A group of business leaders who oppose religious freedom legislation approved Friday by the Georgia Senate are stepping up their fight.

The Georgia Senate approved legislation that combined two religious freedom bills: the “Pastor Protection Act,” which would assure clergy they would not have to perform same-sex marriages; and the “First Amendment Defense Act,” which would allow religious nonprofits to deny services to same-sex marriages.

The Metro Atlanta Chamber gave a letter to every Georgia senator – stating that it had signed the Georgia Prospers pledge, an initiative led by former Republic Senate Majority Leader Ronnie Chance. The letter says the organization has more than 300 Georgia-based companies that have signed on.

Mary Moore, founder and CEO of Cook’s Warehouse, said the religious freedom legislation could become “a big problem” for Georgia’s economic future.

“If this moves forward, it will be a huge step backwards for Atlanta,” Moore said in a telephone interview on Sunday.

“We will become a national poster child for discrimination.”

One of the flashiest sectors of Georgia’s business community is mobilizing with new urgency after the passage last week of a controversial religious liberty proposal in the state Senate that critics maintain would enable discrimination.

The new front in the continued legal battle over same-sex marriage, the Georgia General Assembly has been weighing some eight proposals this session that would in some way grant safe harbor to opponents of the freedom to marry. In several instances, the legislation would give explicit license to deny service to gays and lesbians and even single mothers, according to legal analysts.

On Friday, the Senate approved legislation combining two proposals, the Pastor Protection Act and First Amendment Defense Act. The combined bill awaits final approval by the House of Representatives.

Now, the entertainment industry, among the state tax code’s most nurtured sectors, is warning that Georgia’s close-up will soon cut.

“This very assembly working on this bill has invested billions of taxpayer dollars growing an industry that would leave this state,” Brian Tolleson, the president of Atlanta-based entertainment firm Bark Bark, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “They will boycott coming to shoot anything here.”

In a separate commentary for local business publication Saporta Report, Tolleson, whose grandfather founded Atlanta Gas Equipment Co., raised the specter of Indiana’s own religious liberty bill and the economic and reputational fallout that ensued.

“Economists in our state have warned that we could see reverberations greater than those seen last in Indiana — and yet some lawmakers push forward,” he wrote. “We should be talking about bills that strengthen our state and protect everyone and grow our economy — not bills that set us back a generation and do irreparable harm to our state’s reputation.”

Tax incentives for the film industry rate among the state’s most lucrative and supporters argue the credits have created a bustling cottage industry.

Since 2008, when the credits were expanded, the industry’s economic impact jumped from $260 million to a $6 billion in 2015, according to figures from the Georgia Department of Economic Development. That same agency estimates that the industry directly employs 22,400 Georgians and another 77,900 people indirectly.

Last year, a gay rights group ran advertisements on the website of popular Los Angeles entertainment publication Variety to brow beat the national film industry to more forcefully oppose religious liberty proposals in the state. (Pictured above.)

CLICK HERE to read the original article on AJC.

By Greg Bluestein

Gov. Nathan Deal doesn’t typically comment on pending legislation. But every once in a while, he chimes in on a controversial proposal to send a message to lawmakers and their supporters. And that’s what he did Monday morning on the “religious liberty” proposal winding its way through the Legislature.

The signal was sent on legislation that passed the Georgia Senate on Friday to allow opponents of same-sex marriage to cite religious beliefs in denying services to gay couples. Already, a small telecom startup based in Decatur has announced plans to leave Georgia, and opponents warn others will follow.

Deal declined to talk specifics on the legislation, but made clear the measure is still evolving – and that he and his top aides are working with House Speaker David Ralston and other legislative leaders.

“We’re working with the leadership of the General Assembly now as that bill is continuing to move through the process,” he said. “So we’ll see.”

He added: “I don’t comment until things are finalized, but it’s not finalized yet.”

Ralston spokesman Kaleb McMichen said there are “ongoing” discussions on changes to the legislation, which still must pass the House before it lands on Deal’s desk.

“It’s certainly not over yet,” said McMichen.

HB 757 would allow faith-based organizations and individuals to opt out of serving couples – gay or straight – if they cite a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction regarding marriage. One proposal making the rounds would more strictly tailor the definition of a faith-based organization to exclude private organizations and businesses.

Earlier today, our AJC colleague Kristina Torres reported that critics are raising a new red flag about the legislation:

And that includes a warning over the weekend from those in the entertainment industry that the state’s careful cultivation of the film industry may be about to implode because of it.

“This very assembly working on this bill has invested billions of taxpayer dollars growing an industry that would leave this state,” said Brian Tolleson, who owns an Atlanta-based digital entertainment company called Bark Bark and works with studios and media companies from New York City to Los Angeles.

The Metro Atlanta Chamber also circulated a letter to lawmakers warning that the measure, as it currently stands, could threaten “Georgia’s strong brand as the premier home for talented workers, growing businesses, entrepreneurial innovation, and a thriving travel and tourism industry.”

Supporters, who have cheered the measure as a compromise that recognizes their faith-based objections to gay marriage, have said those concerns are misplaced.

“It in no way interferes with our world-class tourism or business communities whatsoever,” Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle told Torres. “We are simply ensuring that no Georgian suffers at the hand of our government for their view on marriage.”

ATLANTA — One local company says it’s moving its headquarters out of Georgia. The controversial religious freedom bill passed in the state Senate Friday, and a Decatur telecom startup is calling the legislation discriminatory to gays and lesbians.

The co-founder of 373K Kelvin Williams wants to prevent the company’s tax dollars from supporting a state that he believes encourages discrimination.

“That’s just something that we can’t live with,” Williams said.
Republican State Senator Greg Kirk sponsored the bill that combines the Pastor Protection Act and the so-called First Amendment Defense Act.

“The legislation is about equal protection and not discrimination,” Kirk said.

The senator from Americus says it gives faith-based organizations like adoption agencies the right to refuse services to gay or lesbian couples.

It would also protect pastors from having to marry same sex couples.

The Faith and Freedom Coalition of Georgia supports the measures.

“It protects people’s conscious, and it protects their religious practice,” Faith and Freedom Coalition of Georgia Executive Director Dave Baker said. “It makes sure no one would be forced by government to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

State Rep. John Lewis disagrees with the legislation.

“We must recognize and respect the dignity and the worth of every human being. We all are children of God,” Lewis said.

Williams says his diverse co-workers, gay and straight, support the company’s move to Nevada.

“It’s time to check your calendars. It’s 2016. This is not the world that we need to have anymore,” Williams said. “We need to be about inclusion of people from all different walks of life.”

CLICK HERE to read the original publication on the Saporta Report.

By Guest Columnist BRIAN TOLLESON

Georgia native who is the founder and owner of BARK BARK, a branded entertainment firm headquartered in Atlanta with offices in New York and Los Angeles

I’m a proud Georgian and a third generation entrepreneur here.

My grandfather, founder of Oliver Electronics, wired the Fox Theatre for sound when it was built, set-up audio for the world premiere of “Gone With The Wind” at Loew’s Grand, and as family lore goes, hung his suit pants on FDR’s bedpost as he changed into his work clothes down in Warm Springs.

My father’s father literally air conditioned the 1940’s and 50s “New South” with the company he founded himself – Atlanta Gas Equipment Co.

As a young man, I worked in Los Angeles and New York after graduating from Emory. But I chose to return to Atlanta to support the creation of film tax credits and to help grow the new industry here in Georgia.

I built a successful company, BARK BARK, which now employs over 25 staff people in Atlanta, not to mention the thousands of directors, writers, producers, and talented union crew members we have employed over the years.

I also came home to Georgia because I believed much of the industry and business we were bringing to the state was helping forge a new identity, leaving our often racially charged and divisive past finally behind us.

I began to feel that, thanks to the sacrifices of those like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Bayard Rustin and so many others, we had finally been set free. Free from the image of OGood Ol’ Boy Georgia… Hateful Georgia. Free from the disease of laws that institutionalize hate.

I knew that, yes, we still had a long way to go, and that I still had much work to do to support all my human sisters and brothers of all races, colors and creeds in true lived equality… but that, in Georgia, we were at least done with Jim Crow laws and government-empowered discrimination.

I was wrong.

See, I am gay. I hadn’t mentioned that before, because it’s not such a big part of who I am. My partner and I have been together for 18 years; for our families, and those who know us, we are just Brian and Aaron. We’re like most couples: working on our home, grocery shopping, spending time with our neighbors, families and friends. We’re probably a lot like you.

To certain legislators, however, we seem to suddenly be a great threat. In the wake of the 2014 Supreme Court Hobby Lobby ruling, they can cloak their true intentions under the guise of “religious freedom.” No matter that religious freedom is already protected in our Constitution and in our state law. Georgia lawmakers want to legally deny LGBT families, like my own, our basic rights.

It’s hard to believe, but there are more than a half-dozen bills circulating under the gold dome right now seeking to do just that.

Listen, I’ve been me for a long time. I can’t change everyone’s prejudices, in fact, I truly honor anyone’s right to disagree with me. In fact, I will defend anyone’s right to hate me as openly as they please.

But I don’t know how I will explain to my niece and nephews why I’m being denied service in our favorite restaurant, or turned away from a local store or how I tell one of our New York clients why a certain Atlanta hotel doesn’t welcome them. That’s the difference here.

I have my faith. I believe God sees my good works. He knows I am not perfect, but He sees me each and every day striving to be better. He knows me for the man I am. And I believe He doesn’t want any of us to treat others differently than we ourselves would like to be treated.

But I am still afraid. I’m not just afraid for the effects some of these bills could have on me and my family. As an entrepreneur, I’m afraid of the economic impact these bills will have on Georgia.

Economists in our state have warned that we could see reverberations greater than those seen last year in Indiana – and yet some lawmakers push forward. Business leaders from across the state have come together through the Georgia Prospers coalition to stand in favor of nondiscrimination – and yet some lawmakers push forward.

Religious leaders have come together to say in unison that they do not want or need these types of laws – and yet lawmakers remain undeterred and push on.

It really makes you question the real motives of those who seek to advance these bills, doesn’t it?

If you live in Georgia, now is the time to speak out about your concern for our state’s future. Tell your local lawmakers that you don’t support hateful bills that seek to codify discrimination, that the South’s days of segregation are part of our past, not our future.

We should be talking about bills that strengthen our state and protect everyone and grow our economy – not bills that set us back a generation and do irreparable harm to our state’s reputation.