Policy Update

Georgia House Overwhelmingly Adopts Bill to Strip Authority from Atlanta Commission House Bill 67 Now Goes to the Senate

2/08/2005

Source: Georgia Equality

HB 7 passes, called "Hidden Gay Bashing." In an oftentimes fiery debate, the House of Representatives gave third reading to HB 67 and sent it to the Senate by a vote of 124 to 39.

The Bill, introduced by Representative Earl Ehrhart (R-36) would prohibit cities and counties from fining public accommodations for discriminating against same-sex couples.

In presenting the Bill to the House for consideration, Rep. Ehrhart indicated several times during his remarks that the Bill only applied to private institutions referring to the Druid Hills Golf Club case. In so doing, Rep. Ehrhart misled his colleagues, as private organizations and businesses are not covered under Atlanta's ordinance. Druid Hills was determined to be a "public accommodation" by the Atlanta Human Relations Commission.

"Private organizations may not preclude the rights of private association," said Rep. Ehrhart who admitted that he introduced the Bill in response to the fine issued by the City of Atlanta against Druid Hills.

However, he went on to say that this Bill will not provide relief for Druid Hills from the $90,000 fine unless the courts take the new law into consideration.

Georgia Equality was concerned that there would be an effort by Representative Mark Hatfield (R-177) to add an amendment to the Bill prohibiting governmental bodies from offering Domestic Partner Benefits to their employees. "There is a better way to spend taxpayers' money," said Hatfield in the hearing held last week by the House Judiciary Committee.

During Monday's floor debate, Representative Jill Chambers (R-81) made it clear that she would oppose any effort such as the one proposed by Hatfield. "Representative Ehrhart—would passage of this Bill prohibit cities and counties from offering Domestic Partner Benefits?" she asked. Ehrhart replied "no."

This means that there is a strong likelihood that legislation, such as that suggested by Rep. Hatfield, may be introduced in the near future.

The Chair of the Atlanta Fulton Delegation, Representative Bob Holmes (D-61) took the floor and quoted Ronald Reagan. "Here we go again," he said referring to the General Assembly's ongoing efforts to strip Atlanta's power from Home Rule provisions.

Representative JoAnn McClinton (D-84) who represents the District that includes the Druid Hills Golf Club, spoke against the Bill noting that she had been to the club on several occasions. "This is a new phenomenon," she said. "For so long people (LGBT) could not admit to having partners, now they can. Vote green (yes) and you are voting for discrimination," she said.

The most fiery speech of the day was given by Representative Nan Orrock (D-58) who compared HB 67 to Georgia's current Jim Crowe Laws. "The elected officials who passed the Jim Crowe Laws were woefully misinformed," she said. "This Bill (HB 67) represents a step down that road conceived as a vote against same-sex couples," said Orrock.

Then, in an unusual twist, she point blank called the Bill out for what it is. "This Bill represents a hidden gay bashing agenda," she said referring to Rep. Ehrhart and the supporters of the legislation.

The final comments were delivered by Representative Wendell Willard (R-49), Chair of the House Judiciary Committee. According to Willard, landlords have the right to discriminate based on their tenant base. "For example, there are apartments that don't allow children, or only allow people over 55," he said.

Willard was using this as a comparison for landlords who don't want to lease to same-sex couples clearly indicating that he supports this type of discrimination against our families.

The Senate is expected to take up the Bill as early as this week where it is expected to pass.

Georgia Equality has received telephone calls and emails inquiring as to why we didn't organize a mass presence at the Capitol on Monday afternoon during the debate. Unlike last year's SR 595 (the Marriage Amendment Bill) which required 120 votes to pass, this Bill—HB 67 required a simple majority of those voting to pass—83 yes votes were required, it received 124. It was very clear that the Republicans had banded together to pass the bill which meant there was almost no chance of preventing its adoption.

While we encouraged each House Member to vote in opposition to the Bill, which is considered bad for our families, we acknowledged the fact that there was very little chance of blocking its passage. We did want to insure that attempts to amend the Bill to prohibit Domestic Partner Benefits were blocked.

As you read above, the debate also afforded our supporters an opportunity to raise several significant issues.

As for House Members who were endorsed in their race in the 2004 election who voted in favor of the Bill (and against the LGBT Community), Georgia Equality is currently reviewing their position to make sure they understand the significance of not supporting legislation which is considered to be discriminatory—such as HB 67.