Georgia Governor vetoes "religious freedom" bill; Atlanta's Super Bowl bid should move forward

HB 757 caused a major uproar both locally and nationally in recent weeks, with opponents saying it was discriminatory toward the LGBT community. The business community also weighed in, and that may have been the tipping point for today's veto by Governor Nathan Deal.

BREAKING: Nathan Deal will veto Georgia’s ‘religious liberty’ bill https://t.co/oXQoWxn99i

— Jeff Schultz (@JeffSchultzAJC) March 28, 2016

Falcons owner Arthur Blank had joined up with other local sports franchises and a variety of national companies, including Disney, to urge Deal to use his veto, and the NFL heavily implied Atlanta would lose its Super Bowl bid if the legislation passed. Maybe Deal did this out of the goodness of his heart, maybe he didn't, but the net result is that the bill is done until the next legislative session, at least.

The net result is that all the corporations who threatened to pull out of the state will stay, the Falcons will get to push their Super Bowl bid forward, and churches and affiliated organizations in the state will not legally be able to choose to deny services based on sexual orientation, among other factors. I'm sure the Falcons—and in particular, Arthur Blank and his new stadium—are happy with the outcome.

Out of respect for the moderators, I'm going to button up the comments if this gets out of hand. Please be respectful.