On June 23 , 2015 , Bright was one of three Senate members including Tom Corbin ( R-Greenville ) and Danny Verdin ( R-Laurens ) who voted against removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State House grounds in the wake of the Charleston church shooting . The movement to remove the flag from the grounds had the support of Governor Nikki Haley , as well as from public figures in - and outside the state . The vote to debate the removal was approved 103 in favor and 10 opposed . Bright publicly compared the call to remove the flag to a " Stalinist purge " . During debate on the flag on July 6 , Bright said that the legislature should instead debate same-sex marriage after the Supreme Court of the United States ruling in the Obergefell v. Hodges
Charleston church shooting
Charleston church shooting
Lee Bright