Despite strong opposition from both Georgia's citizens and its large and influential business community, the state's lawmakers have tried repeatedly in recent years to write gay discrimination into the books.

On Monday, Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, wisely rejected the latest effort, announcing that he would veto House Bill 757, which would allow businesses and nonprofit groups, including those that receive taxpayer funds, to discriminate not only against same-sex couples, but also against interracial, interfaith and even unmarried couples if they claimed their actions were based on their religious views.

Deal's decision was a welcome dose of levelheadedness and tolerance on the heels of the awful North Carolina law approved last week, which bars transgender people from using public restrooms that match their gender identity and prohibits cities from passing anti-discrimination ordinances protecting gay and transgender people.

The Georgia bill was one of the most aggressive versions of a type of discriminatory legislation that has gained favor among Republicans in Congress and statehouses around the country since the Supreme Court's decision last year legalizing same-sex marriage.

"I do not think we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia," Deal said in a statement. The veto, he said, will reaffirm "the character of our state and the character of its people," whom he described as "warm, friendly and loving."

The prospect of broad economic consequences to Georgia was also surely an important factor in the governor's decision. From the start, the bill came under intense attack from a coalition of hundreds of top companies based in Georgia or doing business there, including Coca-Cola, Delta, Google, Disney and Apple. The National Football League said it might reject Georgia's bid to host the Super Bowl.

Lawmakers immediately called for an override of Deal's planned veto, saying that he had buckled under pressure from corporations and lobbyists. They should listen instead to Deal, a Southern Baptist, who early this month invoked biblical teachings to argue for more tolerance. "I hope that we can all just take a deep breath, recognize that the world is changing around us and recognize that it is important that we protect fundamental religious beliefs," he said. "But we don't have to discriminate against other people in order to do that."

FROM AN EDITORIAL IN THE NEW YORK TIMES