CALL NOW: Leave a message for “House Leadership”

& “My Rep” to UPHOLD #HB279 VETO!

This is a great day for civil rights in our commonwealth!

Governor Steve Beshear has vetoed House Bill 279,

a move to preserve Kentucky’s legacy as civil rights leader of the South!

Please send Governor Beshear a note of sincere thanks.

But the fight’s not over yet. We must ask House Leadership to let the veto stand by not taking a vote to override it and allowing for a necessary year to study the potential effects of this measure, thus ensuring future passage of the most responsibly written piece of legislation that preserves both civil rights and religious freedom in Kentucky.

Thanks for your continued efforts to defeat House Bill 279!

GLSO

Summary of HB279

The bill that could subvert current civil rights protections, House Bill 279, proposed by Rep. Bob Damron (D-Nicholasville), appears, on the surface, to be a simple iteration of an individual’s religious freedom, which the Fairness Campaign would support. The bill is written so broadly, however, that it could allow for challenges to existing anti-discrimination Fairness laws in Covington, Lexington. Louisville, & Vicco that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals from employment, housing, and public accommodations discrimination. (The bill could also be used to challenge civil rights for people of color, women, and other protected classes of individuals, but federal protections for those groups would be upheld against HB279; there are no such federal protections for LGBT people.)

HB279 passed the House a week before the Senate with overwhelming support, though it quickly became clear the full impact of the law had not been studied. A day before passage, a Fairness ally had to swiftly remove their name as co-sponsor of the legislation, and others amended their votes days later in response to additional information. Rep. Darryl Owens (D-Louisville) proposed two simple amendments to the measure which would have ensured the protection of current civil rights laws in Kentucky. One, which requires that a governmental burden to one’s religious freedom be “substantial,” was adopted. The other, which included an exemption for civil rights laws, was not.

The bill went to Governor Beshear’s desk, where it was vetoed Friday. A simple majority vote in both chambers is required to override a Kentucky governor’s veto. The House and Senate have until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday night to vote to override the Governor’s veto, vote to let it stand, or take no action on it at all, allowing the veto to automatically stand.