UPDATE: On March 5th  the Georgia Senate failed to listen to Bowers and fellow Georgians and passed the "religious freedom" bill in a 37-15 vote. Now, the focus shifts to the House to try and stop this dangerous bill before it becomes law. Click here to tell your representative to vote NO!

Just last week, former Georgia Republican Attorney General and prominent GOP leader Michael Bowers joined the fight over the proposed Religious Freedom Restoration Act in the Peach State, but not on the side you would expect.

Bowers, who is well known for defending anti-gay sodomy laws in the Supreme Court’s 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick decision, is now standing on the right side of history and supporting those who believe in fairness for all.

Federation member Georgia Equality hired Bowers to help them fight passage of HB 218 and SB 129, two “religious freedom” bills aimed to allow legal discrimination of LGBT people. Bowers offers a unique perspective, as GAEQ Executive Director Jeff Graham notes:

“As the former Attorney General for the State of Georgia, he probably understands the Georgia Code as well as anyone. He's also an important and well respected voice in conservative Republican circles and we felt his concerns about the legislation should be part of the public debate.”

On Tuesday, February 24, Bowers held a press conference in Atlanta announcing his strong opposition to the proposed “religious freedom” acts. In his legal analysis, he says the bills are ““unequivocally an excuse to discriminate….[P]ermitting citizens to opt-out of laws because of a so-called burden on the exercise of religion in effect ‘would permit every citizen to become a law unto himself.’” (Hear his comments in the video below from the Georgia Unites website and learn more about this unlikely ally here.)

Unfortunately, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the act this week. Hopefully the Senate listens to Bower’s critiques, and votes down the bill, realizing that this act is just an effort to legalize discrimination against LGBT people.

The Federation supports the hard work of Georgia Equality and their project with the Human Rights Campaign, Georgia Unites Against Discrimination. We will continue to follow the progress of these “religious freedom” bills to update folks on what is happening in Georgia, and in all the communities you call home.

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