Mississippi’s governor signed into law a bill this week that allows people and organizations to refuse services, goods, and housing to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people based on “sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions” that same-sex marriage is wrong, or that gender is “immutable.” The spirit of the law is at odds with Americans’ steadily growing, stated support for marriage equality. But Mississippi isn’t the only state to have considered or passed anti-LGBT laws recently, especially in the American South.
In March, North Carolina passed a law requiring transgender adults and children to use bathrooms matching the sex on their birth certificates, not their gender identity. Tennessee is considering a similar bill. Georgia’s governor, meanwhile,vetoed a bill last month that would have allowed religious groups, including charities, to refuse to perform services and to make hiring decisions based on homophobic beliefs.
[For more of this story, written by Francie Diep, go to https://psmag.com/the-rise-of-...a1ec73b7a#.uq7h96wgc]
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