The gay couples hoping to gain family membership at the Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta have hit a major obstacle: the Georgia legislature has
sent a bill to Governor Sonny Purdue which will:
- Allow private clubs to exclude gays.
- Nullify any portion of an ordinance which requires equal treatment of same-sex and married couples.
- Bar munipalities from requiring organizations to offer domestic partner benefits to gay couples.
This will strip Atlanta's
Human Relations Ordinance of its requirement that city-licensed businesses not discriminate against GLBT persons. Two members of the Druid Hills Golf Club had been relying on this ordinance in their efforts to include their partners in family memberships rather than having to purchase separate individual memberships.
In December Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin had
imposed $500/day fines against the club for their noncompliance. The club immediately filed suit, and it is largely understood that this battle is what prompted the present anti-human rights state action.