Lambda Legal Southern Regional Director Simone Bell Speaks at Rally Against Georgia Discrimination Bills

Today, Simone Bell, Lambda Legal Regional Director and former Georgia state representative, attended the Georgia Unites Against Discrimination rally against anti-LGBT bills that encourage discrimination. She delivered the following remarks on the steps of the capitol:

We are extremely disappointed that Georgia’s lawmakers have once again targeted LGBT people for discrimination, and we urge lawmakers to reject these bills because they are divisive and dangerous. This legislation encourages discrimination and collides with fundamental rights protected under the U.S. Constitution.

Any bill that makes Georgia workers, families and others vulnerable to the prejudices of anyone who might claim a religious reason is wrong for Georgia.  That’s not Peach State values of fairness and respect for all.

These bills seek to create a "freedom to discriminate," twisting the intent of our Nation’s founders beyond recognition. We are seeing this across the country — bills that say they are about protecting one thing while actually targeting and seeking to validate discrimination against LGBT people, with dangerous implications for everyone else.

Reject these bills before they cause damage to vulnerable children, women and minorities, and drive a wedge between employee and employer, patient and caregiver, customer and company and landlord and tenant.. Freedom of religion is already strongly protected by federal and state law – the bills under consideration attempt to do something else.

LGBT Georgians need strong and effective protections in employment and public accommodations 21 states provide protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and 17 on the basis of gender identity, and we need to make Georgia one of them. Gov. Deal is right that we shouldn’t pass laws that invite discrimination; we should go one step further and we should pass laws to protect LGBT people from discrimination.

Lambda Legal is a member of Georgia Unites, a bipartisan grassroots campaign dedicated to protecting gay and transgender Georgians from discrimination and ensuring that individuals and businesses aren’t able to use their religious beliefs to harm others.

Read the press release.