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Ga. Senate passes bill that allows adoption agencies to reject gay couples

The bill heads to the Georgia House.
Georgia House

ATLANTA — The Georgia Senate passed a bill on Friday that some say will allow legal discrimination against gay couples. Sponsors of the bill claim it would prevent the state from forcing faith-based agencies to violate their religious beliefs.

Senate Bill 375, dubbed by some critics the "religious liberties" bill, states "child-placing agencies have the right to provide services in accordance with the agency's sincerely held religious beliefs."

The Senate passed the bill by a 35-19 vote, with voting taking place along party lines – Republicans for, Democrats against. It now heads to the Georgia House.

► RELATED: Bill would let adoption agencies refuse couples based on religious beliefs

Republican William Ligon argued that state law needs to protect church-based entities that may choose not to adopt children to same sex couples. As they argued, a half-dozen members of the House of Representatives stood in the Senate chamber and watched – many of them gay or lesbian.

Opponents fear the bill could legalize discrimination; proponents deny that claim.

Opponents have cautioned that the bill could have a negative effect on Georgia's economy, especially when it comes to the state's film industry. It could also harm recruitment of future prospects like Amazon's HQ2, said Jeff Graham with Georgia Equality.

"A lot of these businesses have been very clear that they don’t want to come to a state that is not going to be open and welcome and wanting to do business with all people," he said.

Should the bill pass the House, it's not a sure-bet that Republican Gov. Nathan Deal would sign it into law; he's vetoed other bills that he's viewed as discriminatory.

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