Today, Virgina Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed an anti-LGBT bill that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against LGBT people based on their religious opposition to same-sex marriage.
The Advocate reported that the bill would have prevented the state from penalizing businesses and individuals who cite faith-based grounds for discriminating against same-sex couples, transgender people, and people who have sex outside of marriage.
The Washington Blade reported that McAuliffe said in a statement that Senate Bill 41 is “nothing more than an attempt to stigmatize.”
“This legislation is also bad for business and creates roadblocks as we try to build the new Virginia economy,” he said. “Businesses and job creators do not want to locate or do business in states that appear more concerned with demonizing people than with creating a strong business climate.”
“Legislation that immunizes the discriminatory actions of certain people and institutions at the expense of same-sex couples would damage Virginia’s reputation for commonsense, pro-business government,” added McAuliffe. “We need only look at the damage these types of laws are doing in other states to understand the harm this bill could bring to our Commonwealth and its economy.”
