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Mississippi House Sends ‘Worst Religious Freedom Bill’ in the U.S. to Governor’s Desk, Protests Begin – VIDEO

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Mississippi’s proposed religious freedom bill HB 1523, which has been called the ‘worst religious freedom bill’ in the U.S., will now head to the governor’s desk for his signature or veto.

The Mississippi Senate last week passed HB 1523 but Democratic lawmakers tried to tie up the bill in red tape by motioning to have the bill reconsidered in the House.

On Monday, the House voted 70-47 to deny that motion, meaning that the bill has been approved by both chambers of the Mississippi legislature. It is now up to Governor Phil Bryant (R) as to whether The Magnolia State will join the ranks of Indiana and North Carolina, whose governors signed atrocious anti-LGBT bills, or the ranks of Georgia, where Governor Nathan Deal vetoed a similar measure. The governors in all three of those cases were Republicans.

Bryant has not indicated whether he will sign or veto the bill, though he is on record as saying that he does not think HB 1523 is discriminatory. Many reporters closely following the case believe Bryant will sign the bill.

BuzzFeed reports: 

Democrats made desperate pleas to stop the measure, which they had delayed since last week by using a procedural maneuver that required an additional vote.

“This is the most hateful bill I have seen in my career in the legislature,” Rep. Stephen Holland said, urging his colleagues to reverse their vote the previous week to approve the bill.

“You ought to be ashmed of yourself,” he fumed. “You are doing nothing but discrimination.”

In speeches on the Senate floor Wednesday night, Republicans backers argued their legislation fixes problems created for people of faith when the Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality last year.

“It gives protection to those in the state who cannot in a good conscience provide services for a same-sex marriage,” Sen. Jennifer Branning said in an address to her colleagues.

If enacted, HB 1523 “would protect people, religious organizations, and certain businesses that refuse services specifically to LGBT people” and also “protect those opposed to recognizing the gender identity of transgender people.” More from BuzzFeed:

Further, it covers those who decline for reasons of faith to provide counseling services, foster care, and adoption services — even, apparently, those receiving government funding. Clerks who issue marriage licenses could also recuse themselves.

 

“This is probably the worst religious freedom bill to date,” Ben Needham, director of Project One America, an LGBT advocacy project in the Deep South run by the Human Rights Campaign, told BuzzFeed News. […]

HRC President Chad Griffin tweeted on Monday that Mississippi will likely face a similar backlash from the business community as that felt by North Carolina after it passed the discriminatory and anti-LGBT HB 2.

According to local journalist Arielle Dreher, protests have already begun outside Governor Bryant’s mansion.

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