Tag Archives: Georgia (U.S.)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.S. News | LGBT

Georgia governor announces veto of anti-LGBT bill
  • Republican Georgia governor Nathan Deal announced he would veto House Bill 757, a bill introduced to protect faith-based organizations from anti-discrimination lawsuits.
  • Governor Deal’s announcement came in the wake of boycott threats from businesses and prominent entertainers as well as national backlash over the passage of a more extensive anti-LGBT bill in neighboring North Carolina.
  • Some Georgia senators have announced their intention to attempt an override, although successful veto overrides are rare in Georgia’s history.

Read more:
Transcript: Governor’s remarks on HB757 (Georgia Office of the Governor)
“Georgia Governor Rejects Bill Shielding Critics of Gay Marriage” (The New York Times)
“Georgia Governor blocks anti-gay law after boycott threats” (PinkNews)
“Senators calls for override of Deal veto of religious liberty bill” (The Atlanta Journal Constitution)

(Image Credit: David Goldman/Associated Press, via The New York Times)

Nationality + Migration

U.S. News | Central American Migrants

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U.S. government begins detaining asylum-denied Central American families
  • At least six families in Texas and five in Georgia have been detained as the Obama administration begins implementing its 2016 plan to deport undocumented families denied asylum in the U.S.
  • Families were transported to detention centers in south Texas as advocates rushed to provide legal assistance.
  • An ongoing wave of families fleeing Central America has created a political firestorm as anti-immigration politicians have accused the migrants of flouting the immigration system and pro-immigrant advocates have accused the opposition of downplaying the increase in violence in what is already one of the world’s most violent regions.

Read more:
“Families are taken into custody as push to deport immigrants denied refuge begins” (The L.A. Times)
“U.S. Begins Immigration Crackdown on Central Americans” (The Wall Street Journal)
“Immigration Crack Down on Central Americans in US Begins With First Arrests” (teleSUR English)

(Image Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images, via the L.A. Times)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

U.S. News | Black Christians

Arsonists strike predominantly black churches across southern U.S.
  • Four churches were burned in the last week in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, with at least three suspected to be the result of arson.
  • Investigators have not ruled any of them as being a hate crime yet, although investigations are ongoing.
  • The fires have occurred less than a week after the massacre at the historic black Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, that left nine dead.

“The most important thing is people. … We’re going to build it back better than ever.”

Read the full story at BuzzFeed.

(Image Credit: Larry Wood/Twitter photo, via BuzzFeed)