Having been a DK member for long time, I felt it was time to post my first diary as a sincere cry for help. Not for me, but for the state of Georgia. My central question:
Why has there been such a lack of coverage on Daily Kos—and really outrage—about the religious liberty bill just passed in Georgia?
When Indiana tried to pull this crap about a year ago, this site was all over it. Multiple front page stories. Daily diaries from many users. People banded together to put pressure on government officials and corporations. The fact is, we badly need that same level of interest, passion, and public pressure now: http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/weeks-of-debate-ahead-over-georgia-religious-liber/nqnJN/:
The Georgia Legislature’s sudden passage of a bill intended to shield opponents of same-sex marriage from last year’s landmark Supreme Court ruling ignited a fierce and growing pushback from corporate leaders and gay rights activists urging Gov. Nathan Deal to block the bill….
The governor has until May 3 to decide whether to sign the legislation, raising the prospect of seven weeks of heavy, highly publicized lobbying by all sides. The two-term Republican has previously voiced concern over the legislation, saying he would reject any measure that legalizes discrimination. But his stance on this bill, which only arrived on some legislators’ desks minutes before the vote, remains an open question.
It’s distressing to see all the Bernie and Hillary pie-fighting, and meta-diaries on the pie-fighting, saturating the daily Rec list. I’m sure this isn’t the only reason for lack of coverage, but I wonder how much this fighting has caused us to take our eyes off of urgently needed activism. Can’t we refocus this energy on policy, or even better, combine support for our presidential candidates with a focus on policy and protest?
(1) We should be pressuring Bernie and Hillary to use their pulpits to speak out against legislative discrimination against LGBT Americans and others.
Why have Bernie and Hillary been so relatively quiet about these outrageous and discriminatory religious liberty bills in GA and elsewhere? Both of them were here in GA just a couple of weeks ago lobbying for votes and saying very little about the dangers of “religious liberty” bills being put forth around the country. This isn’t good enough. We should demand more from our candidates.
(2) We need more diaries and front page stories at Daily Kos on this issue. Updates, calls to action.
(3) We need to demand the media report on this story, at least as much as they did on Indiana. This bill in Georgia is perhaps even worse than the Indiana one in terms of giving individuals the ability to deny services to anyone whose marriage practices they disagree with.
(4) If you’re in GA, or know someone who is, it’s critical to call Governor Deal now and urge him to veto this bill (HB757). The number is 404-656-1776.
(5) If you’re outside of GA, you can pressure companies who do business in the state to compel the Governor to veto the bill. (Or you can thank those companies who’ve expressed opposition to the bill on twitter, Facebook, or email.) Gov. Deal is very concerned about Georgia’s business climate, so he’ll be receptive to corporate pressure. You can learn more about the corporate pushback (and which companies have been standing against discrimination) here: http://www.georgiaprospers.org/