"Following Backlash From Across the Country, Georgia Gov. Will Veto Discriminatory Anti-LGBT Bill"

Following weeks of pressure from the Human Rights Campaign and Georgia Equality, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal will veto H.B. 757, a deeply discriminatory bill that passed the state legislature...The legislation, which sparked a massive backlash of opposition from a broad array of civil rights groups and leaders in Hollywood and corporate America, would have weakened local non-discrimination protections, allowed businesses to discriminate and deny service to LGBT people, and explicitly empowered discrimination by taxpayer-funded religious organizations...Deal’s veto comes one week after HRC President Chad Griffin called on Hollywood to stop productions in Georgia if Deal refused to veto the legislation at HRC’s Los Angeles Gala...According to the State of Georgia, which offers major tax incentives for entertainment companies to film in the state, at least 248 film and television productions were shot in Georgia...result[ing] in at least $1.7 billion in direct spending as well as more than 100 new businesses relocating to or expanding in Georgia to support these activities.