The Mississippi GOP last night without notice rammed through a highly-controversial anti-gay bill providing residents with a “license to discriminate” under the guise of religious freedom. The legislation, known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act — which most believed to be dead after it had been rejected and returned to committee — was reintroduced under a different bill number and with revised language just 24 hours earlier.
The legislation, though wide-reaching, is narrower in scope than the Arizona bill that drew the nation’s attention — and outrage. Governor Jan Brewer vetoed that bill in February. The Mississippi bill has the power to plow anyone to refuse service to anyone merely by claiming their religious beliefs would be violated. A family headed by a same-sex couple could be denied service at a restaurant. A lesbian could be refused service at the DMV. A pharmacist could refuse to fill a prescription for birth control or HIV medication.
LOOK: Mississippi GOP In Last-Minute Push To Pass Renewed Religious ‘License to Discriminate’ Bill
The Mississippi House passed the bill with a 79-43 vote, and the Senate the vote was 37-14.
Supporters of the bill included the Southern Baptist Convention, whose political lobby group, the Christian Action Commission, teamed up with the the United Pentecostal Church. Leaders of both groups “signed a letter left on senators’ desks Tuesday,” the Visalia Times Delta reports:
They urged support for the bill and said: “Opponents of this bill, though numerous and loud, are primarily out-of-state, anti-religious special interest groups.” They also said Mississippi is “one of, if not the most, Bible-minded states in America.”
The Campaign for Southern Equality is planning a prayer vigil and rally for Thursday.
“From its inception,†Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality told The New Civil Rights Movement yesterday by telephone, the goal of the bill has been “to create a license to discriminate under the guise of protecting religious freedom.â€
Calling it “bad for business, bad for the state’s reputation, and most of all, bad for Mississippians,” the Human Rights Campaign’s State Legislative Director, Sarah Warbelow, stated the bill, “has the effect of making LGBT people strangers to the law” and “would hollow out any non-discrimination protections at the local level or possible future state-wide protections.”
Mississippi state senator Derrick Simmons offered these tweets in opposition to the bill:
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#Mississippi #sb2681 – #religiousfreedom #msleg #discrimination no #equality pic.twitter.com/zZfudSNBgX
— Sen. Derrick Simmons (@SenDTSimmons) April 1, 2014
#Mississippi #sb2681 – #religiousfreedom #msleg #discrimination no #equality pic.twitter.com/AIVh9vFbSN
— Sen. Derrick Simmons (@SenDTSimmons) April 1, 2014
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Republican Governor Phil Bryant is expected to sign the bill, known as SB 2681, into law.