The Governor of Georgia has vetoed a bill supporting the right of religious organisations to refuse services that clash with their faith, e.g with regard to same-sex marriage and the hiring and firing of people of whose private lives they disapprove.

This bill is part of the right-wing backlash against the extension of civil rights to gay and transgender people that is occurring in 9 other states that are considering similar bills. The Georgia governor, Nathan Deal, a Republican, is quoted as saying,”I don’t think we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia, of which I and my family have been a part for all of our lives”. He went on to say that the bill “could give rise to state-sanctioned discrimination”.

This is an unusual statement from a Southern governor. It illustrates the shrinking power of the religious right and could offer cover to other Southern governors who might be thinking of doing something similar. To Epicureans, it is a bit of encouragement in the current political atmosphere of crudity, vulgarity and undertones of intolerance.