JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Top Mississippi Republican lawmakers are praising a federal appeals court for saying the state can enforce a law that would let merchants and government workers cite their religious beliefs to deny services to same-sex couples. LGBT advocates say the law is discriminatory and puts people in danger. More appeals are expected, which will delay enforcement of the law that started in 2016 as House Bill 1523.
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Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn, who voted for the bill: “The whole objective was to protect religious freedoms.”
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Brandiilyne Mangum-Dear, who sued to try to block the law and also is pastor of Joshua Generation Metropolitan Community Church in Hattiesburg: “We had to put guards in front of our church after the bill initially passed because there was a truck with a swastika parked across the street and just this week the Christian Knights of the KKK distributed flyers throughout the Hattiesburg area. Today’s ruling leaves us more exposed, so we will have to be more vigilant than ever before to protect our church, our families and our dignity.”
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Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who supported the bill: “House Bill 1523 simply protected Mississippians from government interference when practicing their deeply held religious beliefs, and I appreciate the 5th Circuit clearing the path for this law to take effect.”
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Rob Hill, Mississippi director of Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group: “This law - now the most discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ state law in the country - was rooted in hate, it targets the LGBTQ community and it is a deliberate attempt to undermine marriage equality and the dignity of LGBTQ Mississippians who lawmakers have sworn to serve and protect. We will continue to fight tooth and nail against HB 1523 until it no longer threatens our community.”
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Forest Thigpen, president of Mississippi Center for Public Policy, a conservative group that pushed for the law: “While the 5th Circuit did not engage on the merits of this case, it did reach the right conclusion by allowing the law to finally go into effect. This law strikes a balance between competing rights. It restrains government from penalizing people who hold sincere beliefs about marriage and gender.”
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Beth Orlansky, advocacy director for the Mississippi Center for Justice: “This law is discriminatory, and we will do everything we can to prevent it from causing any more harm. By promoting a law that singles out a particular group for discriminatory treatment, the state of Mississippi sends a message to the rest of the country that not everyone is welcome in the ’Hospitality State.’”
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