LGB-inclusive hate crimes bill gets new life
Tylen told the crowd they had been denied placement 30 different times.
Though it’s been all Republicans behind SB 375, and the bill passed along party lines in the Senate, there are conservatives who oppose it as well. One of those is Marisa Pruitt DeRossett, a conservative LGBTQ mother of three whose wife wants to adopt her daughters.
“SB 375 puts the very creation of our family at risk,” DeRossett said. “We cannot call ourselves true conservatives and champions of the family if we would willfully deny my children or the 14,000 foster children in the system of Georgia the opportunity to be part of a loving family.”
Despite none of the three LGBTQ-inclusive hate crimes bills passing from one chamber to the next on Crossover Day during this legislative session, there is still hope for such legislation to become law.
Language from HB 660 was attached to Senate Bill 373 — a bill that would create a new judgeship in Cobb County — which passed the House Judiciary Civil Committee March 8 and now heads to the full House for a vote.
However, key parts of HB 660, which was introduced in early January by Rep. Meagan Hanson (R-Brookhaven), were stripped before being attached to SB 373, including protections for those who’ve had a crime committed against them due to their gender identity. Mandatory reporting of hate crimes and training for law enforcement on hate crimes were both removed as well.
The substitute HB 660 language does include religion, race, national origin, gender and sexual orientation. Rep. Devid Dreyer (D-Atlanta) introduced an amendment to the bill adding gender identity, and explained the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation, but the amendment did not pass.
Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, praised the introduction of hate crimes language, but spoke out against it leaving out protections for those targeted based on their gender identity.
“Transgender individuals here in the state of Georgia are some of the folks most prone for being who they are,” Graham told the House committee. “Members of the LGBT community felt that our experiences are treated less than others because of the lack of a hate crimes law that is inclusive.”
Atlanta rainbow crosswalks damaged
LGBTQ Atlanta always has its eyes peeled for anything happening to the rainbow crosswalks at the intersection of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue.
On Feb. 27, Atlantans began posting on social media after noticing the northwest corner of the crosswalks, near Flying Biscuit, had been paved over.
The city’s Department of Public Works told Georgia Voice through a city spokesperson that resurfacing was done that day, and restoration will be complete in 30 to 45 days. The $196,000 project was completed last July, and city officials said at the time that the life expectancy of the crosswalks would be 10 years.