“I can’t express enough how this is not about discrimination but created to prevent discrimination against counselors with strongly held beliefs”, he said. The bill says no one can be prosecuted or penalized for that, but does require them to refer clients to someone who will treat them.
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In a Tuesday message to top state officials Vermont Administration Secretary Justin Johnson said the action was a response to Mississippi’s new law.
Presumably, Bryant was referencing Mississippi’s 2004 state constitutional amendment defining marriage as “only between a man and a woman”.
In a press release Bishop Joseph Kopacz of the Diocese of Jackson declared, “The Diocese of Jackson supported and would continue to support a religious exemption on behalf of the mission of the Catholic church with regard to education and social services”.
Republican Gov. Nathan Deal announced last week that he will veto a bill barring government penalties against religious schools and organizations that decline to employ, provide services to or allow the use of their facilities by people because of a “sincerely held religious belief”. A significant retreat from earlier versions of the bill, this legislation would not have covered faith-based family businesses or even some of the same religious ministries being forced all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court by the federal government in the Little Sisters of the Poor case.
This bill follows on the heels of North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory singing a similar religious freedoms bill, but economic backlash has already hit, with tech giant PayPal canceling a proposed expansion in Charlotte, in what was once considered a more progressive Southern state.
The Mississippi statute goes further, allowing businesses, on grounds of supposed religious convictions, to fire employees or deny service because of sexual preference or gender identity.
The law will take effect July 1 (House Bill 43). Cuomo did the same thing last week when North Carolina passed a law mandating people can only use public restrooms corresponding to their gender at birth.
Controversy and confusion over Mississippi’s Religious Freedom Law.
Opponents also said they’re considering lawsuits, a more traditional form of opposition in MS for minority groups challenging state laws.
We deeply respect the rights of everyone to exercise their religious freedoms, but allowing landlords to evict a gay renter and elected officials to refuse service to a lesbian couple is not an exercise of freedom. “Gov. Bryant and North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory have shown resolve for the good of their states’ citizens in the face of intense bullying from Washington, big business, and Hollywood elites”.
Stay on topic – This helps keep the thread focused on the discussion at hand.
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Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk. In their zeal to deprive us of those rights, the LGBT political machine has made such legislative actions necessary.
