Hours before President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday, Georgia lawmakers, civil rights and faith leaders, as well as representatives from labor unions and advocacy groups, said they are united in a fight to protect people from discrimination.
The leaders were gathered at the Capitol for a press conference and to voice their support for the passage of a new Georgia Civil Rights Act.
Civil rights is a protection that only exists on the federal level, Rep. Jasmine Clark said.
“If you are wronged you have to go to federal court to try to fight for your civil rights, Clark told SaportaReport.
“What’s happening on the federal level is very scary,” she continued. “We’re trying to bring civil rights law to the state of Georgia so that you have the ability to fight at the state level if you [have been treated unfairly], are discriminated against, profiled, or your vote is suppressed in any way.”
Lawmakers at the Capitol event are seeking to block approval, as well as counter state Senate Bill 120, which would stop public funding at private and public educational institutions that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“Public institutions and private entities alike, they uphold fundamental protections that so many any before us fought, bled and sacrificed for,” State Sen. Sonya Halpern told the crowd.
Halpern said that Senate Bill 320 and House Bill 670, which represent the Civil Rights Act of 2025, “Promise that every individual, regardless of race, age, gender, background or ability, has a fair shot at success in our state.”
Andrea Young, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union; Nancy Flake Johnson, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Atlanta; Rev. Jerry Black, pastor of Beulah Missionary Baptist Church and other leaders spoke during the event.
Young said intentional discrimination against people is not a thing of the past.
“We want this to be a bulwark [defense] against these attempts to eliminate the positive steps that communities take to create a more inclusive environment, a more welcoming environment, and to celebrate the fact that diversity in Georgia is our strength,” she said.
Signs held by supporters read “Love thy neighbor” and “Equality Now.” A sign that listed such agency acronyms such as EPA, FEMA, FDA and EEOC was highlighted with the statement: “Stop destroying agencies that help people.”
Jayme Walton, 39, was one of many members of the LBGTQ community who attended a “Pride to the Capitol” rally and the press conference.
The Decatur resident said that she was there to talk to as many lawmakers as possible about her support for transgender people in sports. She believes some lawmakers have made an issue of transgender people participating in sports activities as a way to divide people, she said.
“I’m also a part of Atlanta’s roller derby community, which is one of the few places where we have a lot of openly trans-participants,” Walton said. “I skate against and with trans-skaters all the time. I’ve seen first hand the place that trans people have in sports, and I’m really disappointed to see the Georgia legislature trying to use trans people in sports as a wedge…”
