The Christian right is jubilant after a federal appeals court ruled Thursday in favor of a controversial law in Mississippi that makes it OK to discriminate against LGBTQ people in the name of religious freedom.The Mississippi Legislature passed “The Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act”, or HB 1523, in 2016, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that made gay marriage the law of the land. It seeks to allow businesses and government employees to deny services to LGBTQ people if they feel that doing so would conflict with their religious beliefs.A federal judge blocked the law last July, arguing it was unconstitutional and sanctioned “arbitrary discrimination” against unmarried couples and the LGBTQ community. Thursday’s ruling by a three-panel judge in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifts the injunction, although lawyers for plaintiffs — many of whom are LGBTQ Mississippians — in the case noted that the law would likely remain blocked while they seek a review by the 5th Circuit or appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.In the 16-page ruling, judges opined that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing because they hadn’t been injured by the law yet.“This decision is not only deeply upsetting for the rights of LGBT individuals living in Mississippi, but also for the protection of religious liberty in our country,” said Roberta Kaplan, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, in a press release. “Our clients have already suffered enough. ““Good laws like Mississippi’s protect freedom and harm no one,” said Kevin Theriot, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal powerhouse of the Christian right. “The sole purpose of this law is to ensure that Mississippians don’t live in fear of losing their careers of their businesses simply for affirming marriage as a husband-wife union.”Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, who signed HB 1523 into law, also cheered Thursday’s ruling. “As have said all along, the legislation is not meant to discriminate against anyone but simply prevents government interference with the constitutional right to exercise sincerely held beliefs,” Bryant said in a statement.Five states, Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington, and three cities, San Francisco, Santa Fe, and Seattle, banned their officials from state-funded, nonessential travel to Mississippi after Bryant signed the bill into law last year. Several large companies condemned the law, including AT&T, Nissan, and Tyson Foods, but none threatened to withhold business from the state.HB 1523 was one of 85 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced by legislators in 28 states in 2016. There have already been more so far this year: Legislators in 29 states introduced a total of 100 anti-LGBTQ bills, six of which have become law. LGBTQ advocates, who have been on the defense as they weathered the onslaught of such legislation, attribute its proliferation to GOP lawmakers feeling emboldened after the election of President Donald Trump, and to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.Cover: Jan Smith, left, and her partner Donna Phillips sit with their 9-year-old daughter, Hannah, in a playground outside their church in Brandon, Mississippi. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)DV.load("https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3873195-Barber-v-Bryant-and-Campaign-for-Southern.js", { responsive: true, container: "#DV-viewer-3873195-Barber-v-Bryant-and-Campaign-for-Southern" });
Barber v Bryant and Campaign for Southern Equality v Bryant 5th Circuit Opinion (PDF)Barber v Bryant and Campaign for Southern Equality v Bryant 5th Circuit Opinion (Text)
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