Georgia Log Cabin Republican President Jamie Ensley said while the General Assembly failed again to pass a hate crimes law, gay Georgians can now carry concealed weapons on MARTA and other places. (File photo)
Anti-bullying bill dies on final day in legislature No gay issues move in 2008 session
Students
won’t
enjoy
extra
protections
against
bullies,
but
people
will
soon
be
able
to
carry
concealed
handguns
on
MARTA,
order
wine
over
the
internet,
and
Dunwoody
will
be
its
own
city.
These
are
among
the
accomplishments
of
the
most
recent
session
in
the
General
Assembly
that
ended
April
4.
After
passing
out
of
the
Senate
and
clearing
the
House
Education
Committee,
SB
461,
dubbed
“the
Bully
Bill,”
died
in
the
House
Rules
Committee,
a
victim
of
what
many
observers
consider
an
under-productive
session
dominated
by
Republican
infighting.
“Frankly,
it
got
held
hostage
by
the
political
process,
the
bickering
between
the
governor,
lieutenant
governor
and
Speaker
[of
the
House
Glenn
Richardson]
about
taxes,”
said
Kyle
Bailey,
Georgia
Equality
Political
Director.
The
ongoing
dispute
in
the
Republican
leadership
over
which
taxes
to
cut,
and
how
much
to
roll
back,
ate
into
the
legislature’s
time
during
this
session.
In
an
effort
to
gain
leverage,
lawmakers
began
to
hold
bills
“hostage.”
State
Sen.
Chip
Rogers
(R-Woodstock)
allegedly
carried
the
“bully
bill”
for
Lt.
Governor
Casey
Cagle,
according
to
Georgia
Equality,
which
likely
resulted
in
it
being
bottled
up
in
the
Rules
Committee.
Rogers
said
previously
he
proposed
the
bill
because
a
constituent
asked
him
to
after
the
constituent’s
child
was
bullied
in
school.
“I
think
it
was
rewarding
that
it
got
as
far
as
it
did,”
Bailey
said.
“It
was
this
bill
introduced
by
two
Republican
senators,
and
nobody
thought
it
would
go
anywhere.”
If
approved,
the
bill
would
have
extended
the
definition
of
“bully”
to
include
emotional
distress,
require
schools
to
draft
anti-bullying
policies
and
parental
notification.
SB
461
was
apparently
a
peace
offering
to
moderate
Republicans
and
Democrats
for
the
death
of
a
hate
crimes
bill,
according
to
Georgia
Equality.
Bailey
said
several
moderate
Republicans
lobbied
Cagle
for
movement
on
hate
crimes,
so
Cagle
asked
Rogers
to
carry
the
“bully
bill”
in
the
Senate.
Before
the
start
of
the
session,
Speaker
of
the
House
Glenn
Richardson
said
the
House
would
take
no
movement
on
hate
crimes
this
year.
His
comment
essentially
killed
a
Senate
bill
from
State
Sen.
Vincent
Fort
(D-Atlanta)
that
would
have
included
sexual
orientation
and
gender
identity.
Fort
never
gave
up,
and
late
on
the
final
legislative
day
on
April
4
said,
“I’m
looking
for
an
appropriate
vehicle,
but
it
doesn’t
look
good.”
By
the
time
the
Senate
ended
session,
Fort
didn’t
find
a
bill
that
opened
the
appropriate
section
of
law.
While
his
hate
crimes
bill
withered
on
the
vine,
a
House
bill
calling
the
notion
of
hate
crime
laws
“repugnant,”
died
a
quick
death
at
the
hands
of
Rep.
Sharon
Cooper
(R-East
Cobb).
Rep.
Clay
Cox
(R-Lilburn)
riled
the
fiery
lawmaker
as
she
destroyed
his
bill’s
future
and
then
proceeded
to
berate
his
beliefs
after
the
hearing.
“What
this
bill
was
trying
to
do
is
say
in
the
future
we
cannot
consider
future
hate
crime
legislation.
Well,
we
can’t
do
that,”
Cooper
said.
“The
whole
idea
to
bring
that
up
is
ludicrous,
and
it
just
really
got
all
over
me.
Then
to
say
that
if
anyone
convicted
anyone
of
a
hate
crime,
it
would
be
based
on
emotion
only,
just
really
put
me
over
the
top.”
Disappointed
by
a
lack
of
movement
on
hate
crimes,
Jamie
Ensley,
president
of
the
Georgia
Log
Cabin
Republicans,
found
assurance
in
HB
89,
which
expanded
the
right
to
carry
concealed
firearms
into
restaurants,
MARTA,
workplace
parking
lots
and
state
parks.
“Over
the
past
couple
of
years,
including
this
session,
our
legislature
has
expanded
our
right
to
carry
firearms
almost
anywhere,
as
long
as
you
have
a
concealed
weapons
permit,”
Ensley
said.
“All
LGBT
Georgians
[except
convicted
felons]
can
now
legally
defend
ourselves
with
deadly
force
when
necessary
without
an
obligation
to
retreat
when
attacked.”
Cox’s
bill
was
the
only
anti-gay
piece
of
legislation
considered
this
session.
“That’s
a
big
win
for
us,”
Bailey
said.
“Last
session,
we
dealt
with
an
effort
to
ban
gay
adoption,
and
we
stopped
that
before
it
even
got
on
the
tracks
this
year.”
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