Photo: Gene Page/AMC.Disney, Viacom, and AMC joined forces in denouncing, to varying degrees, an anti-LGBTQ bill that Georgia governor Nathan Deal could sign into law.
The bill, properly called the Free Exercise Protection Act, or HB 757, would allow faith-based groups to deny “social, educational or charitable services” to customers if they feel that doing so would be counter to their religious beliefs. Such organizations would also be legally allowed to reject otherwise-qualified job applicants on the criteria of religious beliefs, The New York Times writes.
Governor Deal has until May 3 to decide on the fate of the bill. Georgia has been a favorite of media companies because of the lucrative tax breaks offered to productions that take place there.
Should he fail to veto the bill, Disney and Marvel, its wholly owned subsidiary, have threatened to pull production from the state. The companies recently filmed Captain America: Civil War and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 in Georgia.
"Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law," a Disney spokesman told The Hollywood Reporteron Wednesday.
Viacom wouldn’t go so far as to promise to remove production, but did denounce the law.
"Viacom is proud to champion diversity and acceptance, which are core values of our company," a company spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. "We have enjoyed doing business in Georgia for many years and we urge Governor Deal to continue to resist and reject the patently discriminatory laws being proposed.”
AMC, which films The Walking Dead in the state, gave credit to Governor Deal for his previous action, and joined their fellow companies in denouncing the legislation.
“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 company told Refinery29.
Chad Griffin, Human Rights Campaign president, threw his support behind the media companies.
“We applaud Disney and Marvel for standing up for fairness and equality by sending a strong warning to Governor Deal,” Griffin said. “It’s appalling that anti-LGBT activists in Georgia are trying to pass legislation creating an explicit right to discriminate against LGBT Americans. We urge other studios, major corporations, and fair-minded Georgians to continue speaking out and urging Gov. Deal to veto this heinous piece of legislation sitting on his desk.”
The NFL has also said it will not host a Super Bowl in Atlanta should the bill pass.
Governor Deal has yet to respond to Refinery29's request for comment.
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