Update: March 28
Many of the residents of Georgia are breathing a sigh of relief today. Governor Nathan Deal has said no to discrimination and vetoed HB 757 “The Religious Freedoms Act”!
“I do not think we have to discriminate against anyone to support the faith based community.” Deal stated. “I believe it is about the character of the state, and the character of our people,” Deal said as he announced his decision to veto the bill.
Update: March 24
Yesterday we published an article stating the AMC/The Walking Dead had joined Disney and Marvel in sending a clear message: if Governor Deal doesn’t shoot down the Religious-Liberties bill (H.B. 757), they will halt filming, pack it up and move their productions out of state for good.
Today, a letter from the Human Rights Campaign was sent, signed by 34 prominent industry leaders, directors, producers, screenwriters, and others, urging Governor Nathan Deal not to let the bill go through. If the bill does pass and the companies pull out of the state, Georgia looks to loose billions. Last year alone over 245 films and series were filmed in Georgia.
“We urge you to veto H.B. 757 and send a strong message that Georgia will not tolerate discrimination against its citizens, employees and visitors to the state.” The letter continues, “We plan to take our business elsewhere if any legislation is signed into state law.”
The signatures include:
Ali Adler – Writer and Producer
Greg Berlanti – Writer and Producer
Matt Bomer – Actor & Simon Halls, Publicist
Dustin Lance Black – Screenwriter and Filmmaker
Bradley Bredeweg – Executive Producer and Showrunner
Kristen Chenoweth – Actress and Singer
Diablo Cody – Writer, Producer and Director
Bruce Cohen – Producer
Lee Daniels – Producer and Director
Dana Fox – Writer and Producer
John Goldwyn – Producer
James Gunn – Writer and Director
Anne Hathaway – Actress
Alan Hergott – Entertainment Attorney
Nina Jacobson – Producer
Dan Jinks – Producer
Kathy Kennedy – Producer
Zoe Kravitz – Actress
Bryan Lourd – Talent Agent
Seth McFarlane – Producer and Filmmaker
Laurence Mark – Producer
Frank Marshall – Producer and Director
Neil Meron – Producer
Julianne Moore – Actress
Ryan Murphy – Producer
Peter Paige – Executive Producer and Showrunner
Rob Reiner – Actor, Director and Producer
Sarah Schechter – Producer
Robe Reiner – Actor, Director and Producer
Adam Shankman – Director and Producer
Aaron Sorkin – Screenwriter and Producer
Marisa Tomei – Actress
Gus Van Sant – Producer and Director
Harvey Weinstein – Producer and Film Studio Executive
Craig Zadan -Producer and Director
Original Story:
Published March 23, 2016
The Walking Dead, Disney and Marvel Are Making A Stand In Georgia Against Discrimination
The Walking Dead is taking on a new Governor, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. AMC has put a halt to the filming of The Walking Dead in Georgia, at least for now. AMC’s The Walking Dead films mainly in Georgia, but has now joined Marvel and Disney in taking a stand against Georgia’s controversial religious-liberty bill. The companies are saying that if the bill goes through, they won’t be doing business or filming in the Peach State and that will take away a big chunk of the state’s tourism income, as well as income from production and staffing.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times AMC said, “As a company, AMC Networks believes that discrimination of any kind is reprehensible. We applaud Governor Deal’s leadership in resisting a previous version of this divisive legislation and urge him to reject the current version as well.”
The bill, introduced by Senator Josh McKoon, passed by legislators last week. If not shot down by Deal, the bill would “protect” religious officials from having to perform same-sex marriages(which is unnecessary as they cannot be legally obligated to do so anyway), would allow faith-based companies to deny employment and services to anyone who violate their religious beliefs, and also to allow religious organizations to deny insurance coverage of birth control to their employees. It would allow blatant discrimination of anyone that a business does not approve of because of religious reasons, mainly the LGBT community, but could be used to discriminate against ANYONE. Have a tattoo? Are you of a different religion? See where I’m going with this? It’s a horrible idea and disgraceful attempt to legalize discrimination in today’s society. I sincerely hope, as a resident of Georgia myself, that Governor Deal is listening and does the right thing, shooting this bill down.
Governor Nathan Deal
Source: TheNewCivilRightsMovement.com
