Post by Logan on Jul 5, 2016 4:13:57 GMT -6
Late Thursday night, just moments before it was set to go into effect, Judge Carlton Reeves struck down HB 1523, Mississippi’s so-called “religious freedom” law.
The law wasn’t a small thing. It was sweeping legislation that would have allowed public officials, private citizens and businesses to refuse any number of services — from cake baking and wedding photography to medical treatment, marriage licenses and adoption services — to LGBT couples and individuals.
It was legislation that protected only a very specific set of Christian beliefs: That marriage was between one man and one woman, that sex was permissible only within such a marriage and that people must be treated as the gender they were at birth.
Nor was Reeves’ 60-page opinion in any way tepid or equivocating.
Read more here: www.sunherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/by-the-way/article87589322.html
The law wasn’t a small thing. It was sweeping legislation that would have allowed public officials, private citizens and businesses to refuse any number of services — from cake baking and wedding photography to medical treatment, marriage licenses and adoption services — to LGBT couples and individuals.
It was legislation that protected only a very specific set of Christian beliefs: That marriage was between one man and one woman, that sex was permissible only within such a marriage and that people must be treated as the gender they were at birth.
Nor was Reeves’ 60-page opinion in any way tepid or equivocating.
Read more here: www.sunherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/by-the-way/article87589322.html