The ACC announced Tuesday it would relocate to Georgia a trio of collegiate championship games from North Carolina, whose Republican governor signed into law earlier this year a contentious religious liberty measure similar to one vetoed by his GOP counterpart here in the Peach State.
The games’ reassignment–two in Atlanta and a third in Rome–seemingly validates the decision by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to veto House Bill 757, which suffered an avalanche of criticism from big business and gay rights groups nationwide.
In a press conference announcing the April veto, Deal said he believed the legislation “could give rise to state-sanctioned discrimination” of the sort that would drive business–and tourism–from the state.
The ACC announcement follows a similar decision in September by the NCAA, which withdrew seven championships from North Carolina in protest over the state’s religious liberty bill.
