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This morning, the Senate passed SB 375 by a 35-19 vote, despite calls from child welfare advocates, businesses and thousands of individual Georgians to back away from this dangerous License to Discriminate.
The legislation would allow taxpayer-funded adoption agencies to turn away same-sex couples and even refuse to work with children in need who identify as LGBT.
Jeff Graham, executive director at Georgia Equality, said after the vote that it was a serious step backward for Georgia that lawmakers advanced “mean-spirited” legislation that ultimately will hurt the nearly 14,000 children who are awaiting loving homes in Georgia’s adoption and foster-care system.
“No one is trying to undermine freedom of religion in Georgia—that’s why religiously affiliated adoption agencies already enjoy the freedom to work exclusively with families that share their faith values,” he said. “This legislation goes out of its way to make it harder for loving and committed same-sex couples to start a family—and unfortunately, it’s children in need of permanent homes who will pay the steepest price.”
Child welfare advocates—including Emory University’s Barton Child Law and Policy Center—have said clearly SB 375 won’t improve Georgia’s adoption and foster care system. In fact, children will wait longer for loving homes if qualified LGBT parents are excluded.
And according to the Barton Center, since SB 375 would allow agencies to refuse to work with LGBT youth, it essentially guarantees they will stay longer in foster care, reducing the likelihood they’ll be adopted at all.
Businesses are also warning that hostile bills like SB 375 will negatively impact Georgia’s ability to attract new investments, including Amazon’s much-sought-after second headquarters, for which Georgia is a top-20 contender. On the line are 50,000 new and high-paying jobs and $5 billion in investment from the tech company.
“First Data is based in Atlanta and we are proud to call Georgia home. However, we are strongly opposed to SB 375, the proposed legislation in Georgia that we believe perpetuates discrimination against the LGBT community. First Data is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace that promotes fairness and diversity, and the proposed legislation violates our core belief that all Americans deserve to be treated equally and respectfully.” —Cindy Armine-Klein, First Data’s Chief Control Officer
Both the Atlanta Metro Chamber and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce oppose the legislation, noting that “Legislation that sanctions discrimination takes us further away from our goal of attracting investment that would improve the lives of Georgia families.”
And global commerce giant First Data says SB 375 “violates our core belief that all Americans deserve to be treated equally and respectfully.” According to Cindy Armine-Klein, First Data’s Chief Control Officer:
“First Data is based in Atlanta and we are proud to call Georgia home. However, we are strongly opposed to SB 375, the proposed legislation in Georgia that we believe perpetuates discrimination against the LGBT community. First Data is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace that promotes fairness and diversity, and the proposed legislation violates our core belief that all Americans deserve to be treated equally and respectfully.”
Make sure your lawmakers hear from you about how bad SB 375 is: Sign up for Georgia Equality’s March 1 Lobby Day.
ATLANTA – SB 375, an anti-LGBT “License to Discriminate” bill that would allow taxpayer-funded adoption agencies to turn away same-sex couples, advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this morning. The bill could come before the full Senate as early as tomorrow.
“There are no winners with SB 375,” said Jeff Graham, Georgia Equality’s Executive Director. “This bill does not help the thousands of young people in our state’s adoption and foster care system. It does not help loving parents who are looking to open their homes to children in need, either through fostering or adoption. It does not help our state’s economic image – particularly at this crucial juncture in our bid to bring up to 50,000 new and high-paying jobs to our state through Amazon. There are only losers with this bill: children denied permanent and loving homes, and potential parents coldly turned away simply because of who they are.”
Business leaders are among those speaking out against the legislation. Among the businesses opposed is First Data, the global commerce giant with headquarters in Atlanta.
“First Data is based in Atlanta and we are proud to call Georgia home. However, we are strongly opposed to SB 375, the proposed legislation in Georgia that we believe perpetuates discrimination against the LGBT community,” said Cindy Armine-Klein, First Data’s Chief Control Officer. “First Data is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace that promotes fairness and diversity, and the proposed legislation violates our core belief that all Americans deserve to be treated equally and respectfully.”
The Metro Chamber and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce also oppose SB 375. The chambers have said: “Legislation that sanctions discrimination takes us further away from our goal of attracting investment that would improve the lives of Georgia families.” The legislation is under consideration while Amazon decides whether to build their new HQ2 – which could bring up to 50,000 new high-paying jobs – in Atlanta.
There are currently approximately 13,000 youth in Georgia’s child welfare system. Religiously affiliated adoption agencies already can work with potential parents and families that align with specific religious beliefs – but SB 375 would allow taxpayer-funded agencies to deny service to same-sex couples, as well. The bill also would allow publicly funded agencies to refuse services to youth who identify as LGBT.
“Georgia is being tugged in two very different directions at the moment, and lawmakers in the Senate should pause before advancing this bill,” added Graham. “We have an opportunity to continue strengthening our state’s brand by enacting welcoming and inclusive policies that protect everyone from discrimination, or we can codify discriminatory practices that hurt Georgia’s kids, hobble our communities, and stagnate our economy.”
For the fifth year in a row, the Georgia Senate is advancing a bill that would enshrine a License to Discriminate into state law.
This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted out Senate Bill 375 would allow adoption agencies — including taxpayer-funded ones — to refuse to work with same-sex couples or LGBT youth based on their “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Now, this disastrous License to Discriminate is heading to Rules Committee, which could send it to the full Senate for a vote some time this week.
Senators William Ligon and Greg Kirk, perennial opponents of LGBT rights, are again spearheading the effort. Both sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which heard testimony on SB 375 on Friday and will hold a vote to advance the bill to the full senate this week, possibly as early as Tuesday.
We’ve heard some lawmakers think of this as a “compromise” bill compared to the broad RFRA bills of years past, because it focuses solely on Georgia’s adoption and foster care agencies. But discrimination is wrong, plain and simple, and there can’t be any compromise on that — especially when it means denying Georgia’s foster children access to loving homes.
And if SB 375 passes, that will be the result. Research from the Williams Institute shows that same-sex couples are four times more likely than opposite-sex couples to be raising adopted children, and six times more likely to be raising foster children. And child welfare advocates have been clear that passing this bill will do nothing to unburden Georgia’s adoption and foster care system. It could even leave LGBT youth waiting longer for loving homes.
Simply put, limiting LGBT Georgians’ ability to adopt will reduce the pool of available, loving homes. And since SB 375 gives adoption agencies the ability to refuse to work with LGBT youth who need a foster or adoptive home, that could further leave children — quite literally — out in the cold.
And let’s not forget: This fight over discrimination is dragging down our economy when we should be putting Georgia’s best business face forward. Toying with a License to Discriminate while the eyes of Amazon and the nation are on Georgia is simply irresponsible. That’s why the Georgia and Metro Atlanta chambers of commerce have both publicly registered their opposition to SB 375.
All eyes have been on the Capitol for the last several weeks, as senators prepare to fast-track through the legislative process SB 375, which would give publicly funded adoption agencies a License to Discriminate against LGBT youth and same-sex couples.
But battles over discriminatory public policy are brewing in other communities too, including in Fayette County, where the Board of Commissioners voted on January 11 to adopt RFRA-style language into the county code.
This was despite overwhelming objections from community members, who worried that such a policy sends the message that Fayette County isn’t a welcoming community, and that any county- or statewide attempts to discriminate will hurt the local economy.
Those objections were on clear display this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where community members were unanimously opposed to Fayette County’s new policy of discrimination.
The Fayette Chamber of Commerce was especially concerned about the economic implications:
The Fayette Chamber believes that inclusion, diversity and free enterprise are keys to creating a welcoming, collaborative and prosperous business climate. We support ideas and public policy that protect the rights and freedoms afforded every citizen in our U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The Fayette Chamber believes that inclusion, diversity and free enterprise are keys to creating a welcoming, collaborative and prosperous business climate. We support ideas and public policy that protect the rights and freedoms afforded every citizen in our U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. —Fayette County Chamber of Commerce
And Fayette County NAACP President Terrance K. Williamson wrote in to say that such a policy is not only discriminatory, but completely unnecessary:
My incontrovertible conclusion is this was just unnecessary, ill-conceived political posturing taken by the commission to the overwhelming detriment of Fayette County and its collective citizenry.
My incontrovertible conclusion is this was just unnecessary, ill-conceived political posturing taken by the commission to the overwhelming detriment of Fayette County and its collective citizenry.—Fayette County NAACP President Terrance K. Williamson
Unfortunately, overwhelming community opposition isn’t enough to sink bills like this. That’s why next week, the Senate Judiciary Committee is still expected to move ahead with SB 375. They’ll likely move it through the Senate quickly and secretively, since they know how unpopular it is with constituents — and that it threatens our shot at landing Amazon’s second headquarters.
In fact, SB 375 is the same kind of bill that nearly caused dozens of businesses and billions of dollars to flee Georgia two years ago, the last time we had a very public fight over anti-LGBT discrimination.
Inclusivity is quickly becoming the most-talked-about topic in determining which states Amazon might choose for its coveted second headquarters, which would bring $5 billion in investments and 50,000 jobs to city that snags it.
In this area though, Georgia lags behind many of the top contenders for this economic boon, known informally as HQ2.
Georgia is one of only three states that have no laws barring employers from discriminating on the basis of race or religion, and is one of only five that have a similarly lax stance toward race- and faith-based discrimination in public places.
And Georgia has no statewide law protecting LGBT people from discrimination, though Atlanta does have a robust local ordinance. But in general, Georgia doesn’t match some of its closest competitors in South, and could even give itself a leg up on that competition by passing a comprehensive, LGBT-inclusive civil rights law.
Take, for example, the five states that have no statewide laws against discrimination in public accommodations, places like restaurants, retail shops and hospitals. They are Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas and Georgia.
Cities in three of those states—Raleigh, Austin, Dallas and Atlanta—are on Amazon’s top-20 list. Against Raleigh, Atlanta may have an advantage: The economic taint of the discriminatory House Bill 2 still lingers over North Carolina, and the city of Raleigh has no LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance.
Against other Southern cities and states though, we may be at a disadvantage. Not only do Dallas, Austin and Miami have LGBT-inclusive local non-discrimination ordinances, Florida and Texas can count more major cities (three and 15, respectively) that have inclusive protections, ensuring more of their population is protected from discrimination.
Atlanta is the only city in Georgia with comprehensive local protections, and Georgia doesn’t match both Florida and Texas in the overall protections afforded to LGBT people.
Atlanta is the only city in Georgia with comprehensive local protections, and Georgia doesn’t match both Florida and Texas in the overall protections afforded to LGBT people.
Texas can also count three cities—Dallas, Austin and Fort Worth—and Florida four—Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee and Wilton Manors—that have scored a 100% on the Human Rights Campaign’s municipal equality index.
In the end, these lapses could make or break Georgia’s chances at landing HQ2—or not. Nine of the 19 US cities on Amazon’s list of top-20 finalists are located in states with some level of LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination protections. That leaves 10 that aren’t.
But in a landscape as uncertain as this, it simply makes sense for Georgia to give itself every advantage possible by rejecting discriminatory legislation like the current SB 375, and passing a comprehensive, LGBT-inclusive civil rights bill like Senate Bill 119.
As the final decision looms for Amazon regarding the location of their second world headquarters, it’s important to understand what factors the company will consider as it prepares to make its choice.
Internally, Amazon has created a culture of inclusion and non-discrimination. An entire division of the corporation, Diversity at Amazon, says in its mission statement:
“We believe that diversity and inclusion are good for our business, but our commitment is based on something more fundamental than that. It’s simply right.”
Additionally, the company has several Affinity Groups that provide the opportunity for various communities of workers to come together, including the Black Employee Network, Women in Engineering, and GLAmazon, Amazon’s LGBTQ group, which has existrd since 2005.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO, is also a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ community. In 2012, before the landmark Obergefell marriage decision, he and his wife MacKenzie donated $2.5 million to a campaign in Washington state to help pass a same sex marriage referendum. Additionally, in 2017, Bezos was honored by the Human Rights Campaign with its Equality Award, which recognizes LGBTQ allies who have demonstrated long-standing support for the community. Amazon was also one of more than 50 tech firms that signed an amicus brief on behalf of Gavin Grimm, a transgender student in Virginia who brought legal action against his school district when they refused to let him use the boys’ bathroom.
In an effort to encourage Amazon to select a state with comprehensive non-discrimination protections, several national groups have joined together in a campaign encouraging the company to avoid nine cities specifically, including Austin, Texas and Columbus, Ohio. The group argues that potential workforce talent in a location without protections could potentially lead an employee to be discriminated against in, employment, housing or public accommodations.
While a final choice will be made later this year, it is clear that Amazon is likely to build in a location that is welcoming to all people, including those who are LGBTQ. The company’s history of allyship is a strong indicator of how much they value diversity, and will most certainly factor into the ultimate decision on HQ2.
There’s a new license to discriminate brewing under the Gold Dome.
Earlier this week, extremist lawmakers in the Senate introduced SB 375, which would allow adoption agencies — including taxpayer-funded ones — to refuse to work with same-sex couples or LGBT youth based on their “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
To be clear, SB 375 is separate from the current comprehensive adoption bill — legislation that includes NO anti-LGBT amendments. But a handful of senators just can’t let go of their desire to tie adoption and discrimination together.
This effort is again being spearheaded by Senators William Ligon and Greg Kirk, perennial proponents of anti-LGBT legislation. It is currently awaiting action in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and could advance to the full Senate as early as next week.
And if SB 375 passes, it’ll cause real damage. Research from the Williams Institute shows that same-sex couples are four times more likely than opposite-sex couples to be raising adopted children, and six times more likely to be raising foster children. Limiting LGBT Georgians’ ability to adopt will reduce the pool of available, loving homes.
Even worse, SB 375 gives adoption agencies the ability to refuse to work with LGBT youth who need a foster or adoptive home, something that is simply unconscionable.
And of course there’s still the Amazon question — will the retail giant choose to locate its second worldwide headquarters in a state where lawmakers are actively promoting bills to discriminate against LGBT people? With $5 billion in investments and 50,000 jobs on the line, lawmakers shouldn’t even be considering a bill like SB 375.
The bottom line: Lawmakers are playing politics with the lives of the 14,000 children waiting for loving homes in Georgia’s adoption and foster care system, all because some extremists want to discriminate against LGBT people.
If we don’t stop this bill now, children, families and our economy will suffer. But we have stopped bills like this before, and we’ll do it again. Send a message to your lawmaker now urging them to reject this new license to discriminate.
Major players in the world of technology looking to invest in Georgia may soon have a reason to bypass our state due to discriminatory legislation being brought before the legislature.
Although lawmakers were recently able to pass a long-needed adoption bill through the Senate that contained no anti-LGBTQ language, Republican lawmakers have made clear that they plan to reintroduce a Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which would allow people to refuse services to LGBTQ by citing their religious beliefs. Similar legislation was vetoed by Governor Nathan Deal when brought to his desk in 2016.
Renewed talk of a RFRA comes as tech companies are beginning to invest in or consider Georgia for expansion of their entities. Recently, Facebook announced it was investing a further $20 billion into its data center located east of Covington. Additionally, Atlanta has made the list of finalist cities for the location of Amazon’s second world headquarters, known informally as HQ2, and Apple is eyeing Atlanta for its second campus, part of a planned $30 billion in capital expenditure over the next five years.
Many lawmakers, as well as Governor Deal himself, worry that a push for RFRA legislation will make Georgia less competitive for business opportunities, therefore missing out on the major economic gains the state would benefit from as a result.
“We want to attract the next Delta, the next Coca-Cola. We cannot do that if we get sidetracked in this so-called religious liberty legislation,”said former Representative Stacey Evans, a Democratic contender for Governor. “It is wrongheaded. It will kill our business community. It will kill our tourism community. Not to mention the fact that it sends the message this state is open to hate and discrimination.”
Georgians already know — discrimination is bad for business and bad for our state’s reputation. We do not want to see Georgia become the next North Carolina. To email your lawmakers and tell them to oppose RFRA legislation, click here.
@GeorgiaUnitesWe were so grateful to be able to profile Rachel last year. Her story is inspiring and it's sad to see her treated unfairly. Thank you Rachel for standing up for yourself! bit.ly/2VTK7j3