Breaking: Anti-Gay Marriage ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill Bobby Jindal Pushed Is Defeated In Committee

Another “religious freedom” bill, this time in Louisiana, is now all but dead despite Gov. Bobby Jindal’s efforts to pass it.

Last month, as he delivered a speech opening this year’s session of the Louisiana state legislature, Governor Bobby Jindal focused on three issues: balancing the state’s budget without raising taxes, improving education in Louisiana by killing Common Core, and passing a sweeping anti-gay “religious freedom” bill labeled worse than Indiana’s.

“There is a nationwide push by the far left to weaken the First Amendment to the Constitution,” Jindal charged. “We either believe in religious liberty or we don’t. In Louisiana, I believe we do,” he touted, as NCRM reported. 

“Let me be crystal clear – I absolutely intend to fight for the passage of this legislation,” Jindal said of HB 707, “and any other that seeks to preserve our most fundamental freedoms.”

“And here in Louisiana, as long as I’m your Governor, we will protect religious liberty and not apologize for it.”

Minutes ago, the Louisiana House Committee on Civil Law and Procedure voted 10-2 against HB 707, the Louisiana Marriage And Conscience Act.

“Bills that run the risk of legalizing discrimination, even inadvertently, undermine the core American value of religious freedom and turn neighbor against neighbor,” Equality Louisiana President Baylor Boyd said in a statement. “We’ve said all along that this bill does not reflect the Louisiana we know and love, and today’s vote confirms that.” 

HRC notes that representatives from “Marriott Hotels, the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Greater New Orleans Inc. testified today against HB 707.”

UPDATE: Breaking: Bobby Jindal Issuing Executive Order To ‘Accomplish The Intent’ Of Failed Anti-Gay Bill

ThinkProgress earlier had reported that the bill “seeks to explicitly cement discrimination against same-sex couples.”

“This state shall not take an adverse action against a person, wholly or partially,” the bill reads, “on the basis that such person acts in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman.” According to this language, the bill only protects those who have a belief against same-sex marriage, essentially endorsing one set of religious beliefs over others.

 

Image by Derek Bridges via Flickr and a CC license