Legislative Director Maggie Garrett To Receive Award From
LGBT Rights Group

Georgia Equality will honor Americans United for Separation of Church and State Legislative Director Maggie Garrett at its upcoming Evening For Equality. Garrett will receive the Allen Thornell Political Advancement Award on June 18.

In a statement, Georgia Equality identified Garrett as “the most responsive attorney in reviewing legislative language” they’ve ever worked with and praised her for her diligence and dedication to the First Amendment.

Garrett worked alongside Georgia Equality in Atlanta to block several discriminatory bills, including H.B. 757. Though branded a “religious freedom” bill, H.B. 757 would have allowed religion to be used as an excuse to discriminate against LGBT people and others.

“It’s a privilege to receive this prestigious award from Georgia Equality,” she said. “It has been an honor to work with the great people at Georgia Equality to help defeat HB 757 and other bills that claim to protect religious liberty, but actually sanction discrimination.”

Garrett served as a Madison Fellow in the Americans United Legal Department in 2000 before moving on to American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) affiliates in Alabama and Georgia. She was the ACLU of Georgia’s legislative director and staff attorney, and lobbied the Georgia legislature on a varied portfolio of issues, including religious freedom, reproductive rights, LGBT rights and freedom of speech, before returning to Americans United.

Georgia Equality will also honor State Sen. Harold Jones (D-Augusta), Grady Health System CEO John Haupert and Brian Tolleson, owner of the digital entertainment company Bark Bark at the event.

For more information about the Evening For Equality, visit Georgia Equality’s website.