Phil Bryant signed HB 1523, also known as “The Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act”, which protects individuals of various fields – both in private and public sectors – from facing legal consequences for acting according to their religious beliefs, particularly those regarding marriage.
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Big-city mayors from Honolulu to Tampa, Seattle to NY, have formed Mayors Against Discrimination to take action against North Carolina and MS for enacting anti-gay laws.
Companies like International Business Machines Corp and Herbalife International Inc used Twitter to criticize a North Carolina measure targeting transgender bathrooms and a MS “religious freedom” law allowing people to deny wedding services to gay couples.
The new measure ensures that the state government will protect those who believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, that sexual relations should be reserved for marriage, and that gender identity is based on anatomy at birth.
William Hargrove of Winona, stands outside the Governor’s Mansion in Jackson, Miss., during a rally where several hundred people called on Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant to veto House Bill 1523, which many believe will allow discrimination against LGBT people, Monday, April 4, 2016. There was a time when the idea that the intermarrying between whites and blacks was prohibited which was considered a sincerely held religious belief and moral conviction for citizens in Mississippi. Religious people have constitutional rights, too. Sadly, Mississippi legislators and Gov. Bryant have ignored the voices of reason and responsibility and have exposed many already terribly vulnerable in the state to yet more discrimination, abuse and violence.
But former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Ed Pittman said the law could be unenforceable.
After the passage of the new law, Cuomo issued an order Tuesday that “requires all New York State agencies, departments, boards and commissions to immediately review all requests for state funded or state sponsored travel” to Mississippi.
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“This is the most hateful bill I have seen in my career in the legislature”, Rep. Stephen Holland said last week. “I think it’s politics at its worst in MS”.
The governors of Georgia and Virginia also vetoed “religious liberty” bills last week. Under the law, anyone who denies certain services to someone based on one of those beliefs can’t be punished.
Ten mayors from some of the nation’s largest cities will ban the use of taxpayer funds not only for official travel to North Carolina and MS, but ban the use of taxpayer funds to purchase goods and services from companies located in those two states.
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A controversial bill created to allow businesses to operate under their religious beliefs is now being eyed closely by states outside of Mississippi.
