W.Va. Senate Overwhelmingly Kills Antigay Bill

The Republican-controlled Senate votes down the proposed "religious discrimination" bill by a wide margin.

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

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Neal Broverman

March 03 2016 8:41 AM EST

March 03 2016 9:55 AM EST

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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.