Several Golden Triangle leaders have spoken out against a law signed Tuesday by Gov. Phil Bryant that allows religious groups and private businesses in Mississippi to deny services to gay and transgender people.
Columbus Mayor Robert Smith denounced the law this morning, saying it “moves our state decades back in one giant step.”
Smith said he held his own beliefs about many of the law’s items, but added those beliefs should not be used to discriminate.
“Discrimination in any form is a terrible thing,” Smith said. “This bill legalizes discrimination no matter how you read it.”
Bryant signed the bill saying he was protecting religious freedom.
The bill drew heavy criticism in the days leading up to Bryant making it state law.
In addition to opposition from gay-rights activists, two leading state business associations and a number of large corporations in recent days had come out against the bill, which allows religious groups and some private businesses to refuse service to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people based on religious beliefs.
Smith lamented that the bill had made it through both legislative chambers in Jackson to Bryant’s desk.
“The city of Columbus works hard to treat everyone equally and we will continue to do so,” Smith said. “I wish this bill had never been written and I believe our state will suffer the consequences of the law.”
Lowndes County Board of Supervisors Harry Sanders told The Dispatch this morning he felt the law was unnecessary, inappropriate and counter-productive.
“I don’t think we need to be trying to legislate moral or religious issues,” Sanders said. “If we really are going to have a free county, we don’t need to be passing these kinds of laws. If marrying a couple of gay (people) is bad or wrong, that’s not for me to decide. That’s up to a higher power than me. Those legislators need to stay out of that stuff. All it does is foster hate and divisiveness.”
West Point Mayor Robbie Robinson said he had his own personal beliefs about the law “as a born-again believer,” but declined to comment on it further.
“That issue will be settled by the courts probably,” Robinson said. “It will be out of my hands and above my reach.”
Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman said, “It’s a sad day any time a lawmaking body sanctions the mistreatment of someone. I’m always going to believe that passing laws that are inclusive, tolerant, fair and equal to everyone are in the best interest of our society as a whole.”
Bryant said in a statement that he signed House Bill 1523 because he wanted to protect “sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions of individuals, organizations and private associations from discriminatory action by state government or its political subdivisions.”
Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, a lawyer and Southern Baptist minister who shepherded the measure through the House, said under the law, “people can not only believe what they believe, but act in accordance with their beliefs and not violate their conscience.”
Opponents of the law, however, see it as a sword against LGBT people, not a shield for Christian conservatives.
“This bill flies in the face of the basic American principles of fairness, justice and equality and will not protect anyone’s religious liberty,” Jennifer Riley-Collins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, said in a statement. “Far from protecting anyone from ‘government discrimination’ as the bill claims, it is an attack on the citizens of our state, and it will serve as the Magnolia State’s badge of shame.”
The law’s stated intention is to protect those who believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman, that sexual relations should only take place inside such marriages, and that male and female genders are unchangeable.
“I think if you read it, you understand it’s a religious freedoms bill,” said House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, the bill’s primary author.
The law would, for example, allow a church group to decline housing or adoption services to gay couples. A hotel could refuse to rent a ballroom for a same-sex marriage and a jeweler could refuse to sell rings to a gay couple. Any employer or school could refuse to allow a transgender person to use the bathroom of their choice.
Among government employees, individual clerks could refuse to issue marriage licenses and judges could refuse to marry gay couples. In both cases, governments are supposed to take steps to make sure that the license and marriage are “not impeded or delayed,” although it was not clear how that would work if all clerks or judges in a county filed paperwork to opt out.
The law is slated to take effect on July 1.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.