Updates on religious exemptions vs. gay rights conflicts

Check back here regularly for the latest news on action by lawmakers across the country on measures to allow individuals and organizations to refuse to provide services to same-sex couples on the basis of religious conviction.

NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina Senate votes to override governor’s gay marriage veto
The state Senate voted Monday night to cancel Gov. Pat McCrory’s veto of a bill that would allow some North Carolina court officials to refuse to perform gay marriage activities because of religious objections. The 32-16 vote was above the three-fifths threshold necessary to override a veto. The bill still must clear the House again for the veto to be blocked and the law enacted.
NC gov vetoes religious exemption bill on gay marriage duties
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory vetoed a religious exemption bill that would allow some court officials to avoid gay marriage duties. Now the General Assembly must decide whether to override that veto and enact the bill, which gives magistrates and some register of deeds workers the ability to avoid duties for all marriages if they have a “sincerely held religious objection.”

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INDIANA
Indiana lawmakers won’t study LGBT protections this summer
Indiana lawmakers won’t spend the summer discussing whether to grant statewide civil rights protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender residents despite lingering fallout over a new religious objections law.

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ALABAMA
GOP leader of Senate: Religious freedom bills targeting gays likely dead
The Republican leader of the Alabama Senate says he believes religious freedom bills that target gays and lesbians are likely dead for the session.

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LOUISIANA
Religious objections bill rejected by La. House committee
Louisiana lawmakers on Tuesday shelved a divisive religious objections bill pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal that has thrust the state into the national debate about where religious freedoms end and the rights of same-sex couples begin. But the Republican governor, who is courting Christian conservatives for a likely presidential bid, quickly fought back against the defeat, seeking to enact the bill’s provisions without legislative support.

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GEORGIA
Georgia GOP delegates back passage of religious liberty bill
Georgia Republicans on Saturday backed passage of a state law preventing government infringement on religious beliefs, which opponents say could be used as a shield for discriminating against gay or transgender people.