The Georgia state senate took a giant step backwards last week when it approved a bill that basically amounts to state-sponsored discrimination.
In a 35-19 vote, the senate passed a bill that would allow faith-based organizations to deny adoptions to LGBT couples.
Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton said what we were all thinking in her Twitter response to the development.
Because what we clearly need right now is …less love? Fewer loving parents? https://t.co/VSZpEgtYIW
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) February 26, 2018
The bill applies to organization that receive taxpayer funding.
The Senator sponsoring the bill, William Ligon, said that this allows faith-based organizations to participate in government programs. Before this bill, those organizations apparently “could not” participate in these programs, because to do so would force them to violate their religious beliefs.
But passing this bill would prioritize religious beliefs over the basic rights of LGBT individuals. That could be interpreted as a violation of the Establishment clause of the Constitution, which states that the government cannot establish preference for one religion over another. It would also discriminate against prospective adopt couples on the basis of their sexual orientation.
The bill still has to pass the House in Georgia.
