Oh, Supreme Court, what you have wrought with your Hobby Lobby bullshit decision. Here's the Georgia state legislature, ready to get their hate on, again.
Florists, bakers or any other private business owner could refuse service to gay couples getting married in Georgia, under legislation filed Wednesday that is likely to inflame the battle at the Capitol over religious freedom and gay rights.
House Bill 756 would allow business owners to cite religious beliefs in refusing goods or services for a "matrimonial ceremony"— a blunt assessment of conservatives' outrage after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June state prohibitions on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional. […]
A second proposal, House Bill 757, was also filed Wednesday. Commonly called the "Pastor Protection Act," the bill is championed by House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, and meant to be a compromise in the religious liberty debate. It would make clear that no religious leader in Georgia can be forced to perform a same-sex wedding. It is not expected to have much opposition as even marriage-equality supporters say that's not their intent.
The state legislature has actually been fighting this one out for a couple of years. Currently, Senate Bill 129 is sitting in the House, tabled from last year, and it's back again this year. It was previously the main bone of contention on gay rights, but is less controversial because it doesn't include a provision that allows businesses to discriminate under a claim of religious freedom. Clearly, that's not enough for the haters.
However, there are an awful lot of very big U.S. corporations in Georgia, and they are strongly opposed and very active in fighting the discriminatory instincts of these Georgia Republicans. Organized under the banner "Georgia Prospers," they intend to save the state's image.