Anti-LGBT adoption bill only the latest in legislative bigotry for some Georgia state lawmakers
On February 23, the Georgia State Senate passed a bill that would allow adoption agencies to refuse to work with same-sex couples.
The bill, , passed the senate 35 to 19 along party lines. While the bill鈥檚 sponsors and supporters claim SB 375 is about religious liberty, opponents say it will lead to state-sanctioned bigotry.
The bill was introduced by State Sen. William Ligon along with five additional legislative supporters: Sens. Jesse Stone, Steve Gooch, David Shafer, Greg Kirk聽and Jeff Mullis.
Ligon and several of his fellow lawmakers supporting the bill, however, have a track record of introducing other legislation steeped in anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment.
In 2011, Mullis and Gooch co-sponsored , an anti-immigrant "show me your papers鈥� bill modeled after Arizona鈥檚 draconian , which forced local and state law enforcement agencies to carry out immigration enforcement actions. That same year, both senators co-sponsored an additional anti-immigrant bill, , which, among other things, sought to put a statewide ban on sanctuary jurisdictions.
In 2015, Ligon and Gooch co-sponsored which sought to prevent undocumented citizens from obtaining driver鈥檚 license in the state of Georgia. The bill was by the Georgia-based anti-immigrant hate group the Dustin Inman Society.
Recently in 2017, Gooch, Mullis, and Shafer have co-sponsored to make English the state鈥檚 official language. Bills designating English as the official language are promoted and supported by ProEnglish, an anti-immigrant hate group founded by white nationalist John Tanton.
Several lawmakers associated with SB 375 have also targeted Muslims, previously co-sponsoring 鈥渁nti-Sharia鈥� legislation aimed at supposedly preventing state courts from applying 鈥渇oreign law.鈥�
In 2011, Shafer, Gooch and Mullis co-sponsored , or the 鈥淎merican Laws for Georgia Courts Act.鈥� The bill was based off of model legislation 鈥淎merican Laws for American Courts,鈥� which has now passed in 14 states. The bills are promoted by anti-Muslim hate groups like American Public Policy Alliance and ACT for America. In 2012, Shafer also sponsored a draft ballot initiative, , which would change the Georgia state constitution to include a ban on foreign law.
Anti-sharia bills are as there are already legal protections in place prohibiting any foreign law from superseding U.S. law. The mastermind behind anti-Sharia legislation is anti-Muslim activist and lawyer David Yerushalmi, who has admitted the bills are, above all else, about sowing fear of Islam among the general populace. He admitted as much during extended with The New York Times in 2011, saying these bills are 鈥渉ereustic鈥� and meant 鈥渢o get people asking this question, 鈥榃hat is Shariah?鈥欌��
聽SB 375 now heads to the Georgia State House of Representatives.
