No Mississippi judges filed forms saying they have religious objections to officiating over weddings for gay or lesbian couples.
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) A federal judge blocked a MS law on religious objections to same-sex marriage moments before it was set to take effect Friday, ruling it unconstitutionally establishes preferred beliefs and creates unequal treatment for gay people.
“Religious freedom was one of the building blocks of this great nation, and after the nation was torn apart, the guarantee of equal protection under the law was used to stitch it back together”, Reeves wrote in his decision.
The law sought to protect three beliefs: That marriage is only between a man and a woman; that sex should only take place in such a marriage; and that a person’s gender is determined at birth and can not be altered.
Attorney General Jim Hood, the only Democrat holding statewide office, said he will appeal Reeves’s decision earlier this week saying circuit clerk’s can not recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses to gays.
“As a result, Mississippi will no longer be permitted to favor some “religious beliefs” over others, and the civil rights of LGBT Mississippians will not be subordinated to the religious beliefs of only certain religious groups”, said Kaplan, who represents Campaign for Southern Equality.
In a blistering opinion that reached into Mississippi’s segregationist past, U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves said House Bill 1523, signed by Gov. Phil Bryant in April, was another unfortunate example of MS trying to write discrimination into its laws.
Tony Perkins is president of Family Research Council, a group that advocates marriage as only between a man and a woman.
Under the new law, business owners are entitled to refuse to provide services to LGBT people if it is against their religious beliefs. The law also established that a person’s gender should match that person’s sex at birth.
State attorneys say it provides reasonable accommodations for people who believe gay marriage is wrong.
Bryant said Friday he would fight to appeal Reeves’ decision.
Attorney General Jim Hood said an appeal could cost tens of thousands of dollars and that might not be a good use of taxpayer money when the state budget is tight.
An ordained United Methodist minister who sued to block a MS law dealing with religious objections to same-sex marriage says the law doesn’t represent the beliefs of her or many others.
The ruling was in response to two lawsuits filed weeks ago by gay and straight plaintiffs. He said that instead of protecting religious freedom, it violated the First Amendment by essentially endorsing specific religious beliefs over others.
HB 1523 opponents breathed a sigh of relief collectively after the 11th hour ruling blocked the law from going into effect.
“The fact is that the churchgoing public was duped into believing that HB1523 protected religious freedoms”, Hood said.
Four federal lawsuits by civil-liberties and gay-rights groups have sought to block the MS bill from becoming law.
Christian churches including Southern Baptists and Catholics support the law.
On Friday, Gov. Phil Bryant said in a statement that he “look [s] forward to an aggressive appeal”.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood (D) criticized Republican lawmakers after a federal judge blocked a law allowing businesses to refuse to serve LGBT customers due to their religious beliefs, WLBT-TV reported.
“The state has put its thumb on the scale to favor some religious beliefs over others”.
“We are confident that our decision will be upheld”, said Mississippi Center for Justice attorney Beth orlansky.
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“There are almost endless explanations for how HB 1523 condones discrimination against the LGBT community, but in its simplest terms it denies LGBT citizens equal protection under the law”.
