--- description: Disney will join other businesses in boycotting a Georgia bill that critics say would make discrimination against gays legal. title: Disney Threatens to Stop Filming in Georgia Over Bill Considered Anti-LGBT image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt018c20d52ab4319b/69888c43428a9e80d0cd1efa/gettyimages-480555100.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [georgia](/tag/georgia/) ## georgia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Disney Threatens to Stop Filming in Georgia Over Bill Considered Anti-LGBT by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 23, 2016 7:27 PM CUT  Georgia Governor Nathan Deal speaks onstage at "Ant-Man" Atlanta Cast And Crew Screening at Regal Atlantic Station 18 on July 12, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal speaks onstage at "Ant-Man" Atlanta Cast And Crew Screening at Regal Atlantic Station 18 on July 12, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia.Paras Griffin—2015 Getty Images by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 23, 2016 7:27 PM CUT Disney says [it will not film in the state of Georgia](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-disney-georgia-anti-gay-20160323-story.html "undefined") if a bill, which critics say would effectively legalize discrimination based on sexual preferences, becomes law. Gov. Nathan Deal has until May 3 to sign or veto the Free Exercise Protection Act, which protects faith-based organizations that refuse to provide services that would violate their beliefs—such as [performing gay marriages](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20152016/HB/757 "undefined"), according to the _Los Angeles Times_. Critics of the bill say that it leaves the door open for discrimination and several businesses, including Disney and it’s subsidiary Marvel Studios, have said that they will boycott the state if it is signed by the governor. “Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law,” a Disney spokesman said Wednesday. The film industry has become a money maker for Georgia, as some 248 films produced in fiscal year 2015 generated some $6 billion for the economy there, according to a report by the state, the _Times_ reports. TV and film producers flock to Georgia because of tax incentives that lower the cost of production. Gov. Deal criticized earlier versions of the bill but said he was [“pleasantly surprised”](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-threatens-boycott-georgia-governor-877659 "undefined") with a compromise version that landed on his desk March 18, according to the the _Hollywood Reporter._ The pro-business Republican faces a dilemma as major corporations with headquarters in Atlanta, like Coca-Cola and Home Depot, have come out against the bill. The National Football League [threatened the state on March 18](http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning%5Fcall/2016/03/nfl-atlanta-s-chance-of-landing-super-bowl-could.html "undefined") that if the bill becomes law that it could affect Atlanta’s chances of hosting the Super Bowl in 2019 or 2020\. According to the _Times_, no other major movie studios have yet threatened similar boycott. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4269547/disney-boycott-georgia-free-exercise-protection-act-gay-rights-lgbt/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4269547/disney-boycott-georgia-free-exercise-protection-act-gay-rights-lgbt/"},"headline":"Disney Threatens to Stop Filming in Georgia Over Bill Considered Anti-LGBT","datePublished":"2016-03-23T19:27:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:09:32.658Z","description":"They join several other businesses in opposing the legislation","url":"https://time.com/4269547/disney-boycott-georgia-free-exercise-protection-act-gay-rights-lgbt/","keywords":["georgia","Gay Rights","NFL","atlanta","Disney","coca-cola"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt018c20d52ab4319b/69888c43428a9e80d0cd1efa/gettyimages-480555100.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt018c20d52ab4319b/69888c43428a9e80d0cd1efa/gettyimages-480555100.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"Ant-Man\" Atlanta Cast And Crew Screening","caption":"\"Ant-Man\" Atlanta Cast And Crew Screening","creditText":"Paras Griffin—2015 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/georgia/","name":"georgia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4269547/disney-boycott-georgia-free-exercise-protection-act-gay-rights-lgbt/","name":"Disney Threatens to Stop Filming in Georgia Over Bill Considered Anti-LGBT"}}]}] ```