The bill would have prevented the state from penalising businesses and individuals who cite faith-based grounds for discriminating against same-sex couples, transgender people, and people who have sex outside of marriage. In February, The Advocate reported that it was unlikely the bill would become law, as the Democratic governor had pledged to veto the measure.
In a statement published today, Virgina Gov. McAuliffe called the bill “nothing more than an attempt to stigmatise.” The protections included in the bill were written in a manner that “prefers one religious viewpoint—that marriage can only validly exist between a man and a woman—over all other viewpoints,” he said. The bill is “not only unconstitutional, it equates to discrimination under the guise of religious freedom.”
Read more at gay.com
Photo By Edward Kimmel [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
