W.Va. Senate Overwhelmingly Kills Antigay Bill

Proposed legislation that would have allowed West Virginia businesses and individuals to discriminate against LGBT people in the name of religion died on the Senate floor Wednesday.

The GOP-controlled legislative body killed the bill by a 7-27 vote.

"The defeat of HB 4012 today is a huge win for fairness and equality in West Virginia," Matt McTighe, executive director of Freedom for All Americans, said in a statement. "Just a few weeks ago, this bill seemed to have a clear pathway forward; but many of the state's leading businesses and residents spoke due to the hard work of local advocates and organizations like Fairness West Virginia, and legislators were moved to do the right thing."

Georgia's Republican-controlled Senate took the opposite approach last week, passing a "religious discrimination" bill and moving it to the House.