What do Disney,Marvel,The NFL,and The Walking Dead have in common? The answer is not the first that would come to the minds of most people. The answer is Georgia,more specifically,a bill pending in the state of Georgia. Georgia House Bill 757, also known as the Pastor Protection Act, says that religious officials in the state of Georgia would not be required to perform marriage ceremonies in violation to their freedom of religion.

"A BILL to be entitled an Act to protect religious freedoms; to amend Chapter 3 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to marriage generally, so as to provide that religious officials shall not be required to perform marriage ceremonies in violation of their legal right to free exercise of religion; to amend Chapter 1 of Title 10 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to selling and other trade practices, so as to change certain provisions relating to days of rest for employees of business and industry; to protect property owners which are religious institutions against infringement of religious freedom; to define a term; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."- Georgia General Assembly

You may be wondering what this bill has to do with Disney,Marvel,the NFL,and The Walking Dead. Well,as you may already know,Marvel is now owned by Disney,and they are threatening to stop shooting their movies on location in Georgia if the bill passes. Disney is a huge advocate for LGBT rights and feels that this bill is a violation of the civil rights of LGBT people. The Walking Dead also films in Georgia and will stop filming there for the same reasons.

The NFL is also not here for this blatant homophobia. The commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, who has an openly gay brother, heavily opposes the bill."NFL policies emphasize tolerance and inclusiveness, and prohibit discrimination based on age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other improper standard," league spokesman Brian McCarthy said on the matter. Perhaps the threat of being out of the running for being future hosts of the Super Bowl will be enough to get Georgia's attention because if there is one thing the good people take seriously,it's their football.

It isn't as if these are small time companies boycotting this bill. This could be a major hit to Georgia's economy. That should be a convincing enough argument against it if setting back civil rights efforts about fifty years is not.