The office of Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) announced on Monday that he would soon rescind a year-old ‘religious freedom’ executive order signed by former Gov. Bobby Jindal.
The Marriage and Conscience Order, Jindal’s replacement for a law rejected by the state legislature, banned the state from taking any punitive action against a business or individual who refused service to LGBT people “on the basis that such person acts in accordance with his religious belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman.”
Edwards’ statement came just hours after Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal announced he would veto a similar anti-LGBT law in that state. Both Georgia and Louisiana have faced pressure from Hollywood and other industry groups that conduct frequent business in the states.
“Governor Edwards will rescind former Governor Jindal’s religious freedom order,” the Louisiana governor’s press secretary, Shauna Sanford, told the Daily Dot on Tuesday. “The timeline is being determined.”
Unlike the hotly contested anti-LGBT law passed in North Carolina last week, which bans all non-discrimination ordinances statewide, Louisiana’s order was put in place after existing non-discrimination ordinances in New Orleans and other cities. Gov. Jindal claimed that his order did not contradict the local LGBT-friendly policies because it simply prevented the government from punishing discrimination. Critics of Jindal’s order responded with backlash, and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu issued his own city-wide order stating that, despite the statewide order, “discrimination in any form will not be tolerated in New Orleans.”
Some advocates are already growing impatient, though, with Gov. Edwards’ unfulfilled plan to rescind the order. As reported by the Times-Picayune in December 2015, the governor has been promising to rescind Jindal’s order—and issue his own order offering additional protections to LGBT residents—since he was elected last fall.
H/T Deadline | Photo via John Bel Edwards for Louisiana/Facebook