The governor vetoed it. The print shop didn't exist.

The stakes

16 March 2016. Georgia passed HB757: a license to refuse service on religious grounds. Gay customers, single mothers, minorities, the wrong kind of believer. Turned away, legally.

It sat on Governor Nathan Deal’s desk. He was expected to sign.

The kids at Lost-n-Found Youth, an Atlanta shelter for homeless LGBT teens, already knew how that story ends. Most of them were homeless because somebody had already decided they could be refused.

The move

We opened a print shop.

4A Graphics of Georgia sold the signs the new law would need. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE SERVICE TO, then the list. Spelled out. Priced. In stock.

For a week, Georgia window-shopped its own future. Then we dropped the mask.

Nobody had to be argued with. They just had to be shown the merchandise.

The proof

We don’t discriminate. We just sell high-quality discrimination signs to people who do.

The receipts

The AJC explained the trick while the bill was still on the desk:

“These signs aren’t real,” George said, “but the consequences for Georgia will be.”

— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 19 March 2016

Twelve days after the vote, the veto:

“This is about the character of our state and the character of its people.” And, on the pressure that filled his inbox: “I don’t respond very well to insults or threats.”

— Governor Nathan Deal, 28 March 2016

Per the award filing: 52,000 visits on day one. 1.7 million shares and views. 55 countries. 8,000 clicks to email the governor.

The credit

Pro bono, out of Digitas Atlanta, for Lost-n-Found Youth. Internal name: Future of Hate. Seven people in one room. One week.