Volume 100 Issue 48
Thursday, April 7, 2016
www.studentprintz.com
‘I’m sorry, I just have a religious belief’
NATIONAL
Miss. Bryant passes bill despite enormous opposition denounced Cam Bonelli/Jack Hammett over bill Printz Staff
Outside Gov. Phil Bryant’s mansion in Jackson on April 4, a throng of 200 or more activists gathered to defend LGBTQ+ rights from House Bill 1523, which would effectively allow businesses to discriminate on the basis of religion and traditional values. Protesters pumped their fists and chanted, “No hate in our state” in an attempt to convince Gov. Bryant that signing the bill would be a mistake. This came less than two weeks after North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory passed the infamous “bathroom bill” that disallowed transgender individuals to use public restrooms respective of their gender. Though many LGBTQ+ individuals and supporters had been hopeful about the bill, there existed some who thought the governor would not be swayed. Activist and Fondren native Curtis Ellis found himself among the latter. “Phil Bryant has not listened before,” Ellis said at the protest. “I don’t think he will listen [this time]. He is closed-minded and closed-eared.” And sure enough, Gov. Bryant signed the bill the very next morning. House Bill 1523, also known as the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act, disallows officials to take punitive action against businesses that deny a person goods or services based on three convictions. “Marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman; sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage; and male (man) or female (woman) refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth,” wrote House Speaker Philip Gunn in the bill. Gov. Bryant said the bill is meant to protect religious organizations from discrimination. “Now, if you have a restaurant and said, ‘I want to have a wedding here,’ and it is not a traditional wedding — it is a gay marriage that is going to take place here — you would
Joshua D Starr News Editor
Cam Bonelli/Assistant Photo Editor Protestors of HB 1523 stand outside of Governor’s Mansion in Jackson, MS, on April 4.
be able to say, ‘Gentlemen, I’m sorry, ladies, I’m sorry, I just have a religious belief, this is a religious ceremony as my faith tells me, and I can’t do that,” Gov. Bryant said in an interview on the JT Show half an hour after signing the bill. In defense of the bill, Gov. Bryant said HB 1523 will help prevent government regulation of an individual’s decisions and constitutional rights by federal and state law. “I’m a limited government type of guy, [and I] always have been,” Gov. Bryant said. “When I get a bill that says — and that’s exactly what this [bill] does — ‘it limits the government from discrimination against an individual because of their religious beliefs,’ I think that’s a good idea. Of course, religious beliefs [are] in the eye of the beholder, and that’s
why we have to look to other criminal laws and civil laws that exist that protect us from someone acting in a dangerous or discriminatory manner.” Hundreds gathered in front of the Governor’s Mansion in Jackson to assert that passing the bill would be discriminatory against LGBTQ+ community members. Wanda Bingham, an activist at the protest, said she was determined to speak out. “Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere,” Bingham said. “That’s why we are standing here fighting. These people who don’t have the best interest of all the people in Mississippi. We are on a mission to get them out.” Bingham made a passionate display at the protest and spoke although she was not planned to speak.
“What our governor has done here in the state of Mississippi, he has created a man-made disaster,” Bingham said. “He’s forcing us to live in a time that we aren’t in, and that’s not going to happen on my watch. It affects everyone.” In signing the bill, Gov. Bryant has opened the doors to federal lawsuits. According to a memorandum published by Columbia University in New York on April 5, the day the bill was signed, HB 1523 violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution in three ways. “HB 1523 violates the Establishment Clause by allowing government employees to discriminate against Mississippians who are LGBT or do not conform to religious, sex and gender norms,” the BILL CONT. ON PG. 3
On Tuesday, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a bill into law that allows individuals and organizations to refuse service to the LGBTQ+ community on religious beliefs. U.S. Congressman Steven Palazzo of Mississippi and Larry Macadoo, the president and CEO of Redemption Outreach Ministries International, are among those who have come out in support of House Bill 1523. However, public statements and actions in response to the bill have been largely critical. Governors of Washington, New York and Vermont each responded to the bill by banning official travel to Mississippi. University of Mississippi Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter issued a statement reaffirming the university’s mission of equality. “The members of the university and those we serve are part of a diverse community of different religions, ages, political perspectives, physical abilities, races, sexual orientations, gender expressions, nationalities, cultures, fields of study and other characteristics,” Vitters said. Biloxi Mayor Andrew Gilich submitted a resolution to the Biloxi City Council to stand against HB 1523. According to the resolution, “The City of Biloxi does not sanction or tolerate discrimination against its citizens or visitors and seeks to preserve and protect the rights of all individuals regardless of religion or identity.” A petition to secede has circulated through Natchez since HB 1523 was in the legislature. Numerous companies and organizations have objected to the legislation, including Tyson Foods, MGM Resorts International, Nissan, Toyota, Mississippi Manufacturers Association and the ACLU. Additionally, comedy website Funny Or Die released “Visit Mississippi: Even Worse Than North Carolina,”a parody tourism video lampooning Mississippi that characterizes the bill as“oppressive,”using “semantics to justify discrimination.”