African-American Pastors Decry Gov. Deal's Betrayal on Religious Liberty

A group of black ministers held a press conference in Georgia Thursday to urge Gov. Nathan Deal to reverse his pledge to veto a religious liberty bill.

Deal said the language of the bill presented to him was of "concern."

"In light of our history, I find it somewhat ironic, that some in the religious community today feel it necessary for the government to confer upon them certain rights and protections," Deal said.

The bill would allow clergy and pastors to refuse performing gay marriage and protect people who refuse to attend the ceremonies.

The pastors were joined by former Atlanta Fire Department Chief Kelvin Cochran, who was fired from his job in 2015 for his stance on gay marriage.

Pastor Garland Hunt, senior pastor at The Father's House in Norcross, Georgia, helped to sponsor the press conference. He told CBN News why the presser was necessary.

"We were totally, highly offended and angered to hear that the governor turned his back on faith-based organizations, the faith-based leadership in the state," Hunt said.

"We met with him several times and he promised us that he would sign legislation that was basically similar to what was presented to him so we feel like he didn't keep his word," he added.

Hunt also said the press conference served the need to have a group of African-American faith leaders who were not congratulating the governor on his decision about the measure.

"We love the Lord and we're going to stand for our religious freedom and we love our religious freedom just as much as anybody else," the group of faith leaders said.

"So for that reason we just decided that a few of us needed to talk specifically out of our African-American tradition, understanding what we've been through, through discrimination, certainly we understand that but this is not discrimination," they said.

Religious leaders in the state are calling for a special legislative session to override the governor's planned veto.

CBN News Reporter Charlene Aaron also spoke with former gay rights activist Charlene Cothran about the bullying tactics of the gay political agenda in America.

Watch Cothran's testimony of how she was delivered from a lesbian lifestyle below.