In both instances, the ordinances have been widely seen as allowing businesses to deny services to LGBT individuals in the wake of marriage equality having been upheld by the Supreme Court nationwide. Georgia’s “First Amendment Defense Act” (FADA) explicitly states its intent to protect what it regards as traditional marriage between one man and one woman, and goes further than the Indiana law by precluding government authorities from bringing civil suits against businesses accused of discrimination.
Much as he did last year in Indiana, the CEO of the cloud-computing giant Salesforce, Marc Benioff, is vowing to fight the Georgia bill. After threats from Salesforce (Indiana’s largest technology company) to relocate employees it felt were at risk of discrimination out of the state, Indiana’s “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” was modified to include some protections for LGBT individuals.
Salesforce currently has about 1,000 employees in Georgia, but is considering moving its annual Connections conference in May from Atlanta to another venue. The conference typically attracts about 15,000 Salesforce clients. Another Georgia-based firm, telecom company 373K, is considering relocating out of the state if the bill becomes law.