JACKSON — More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers are calling for repeal of an incoming Mississippi law that will let workers cite religious beliefs to deny services to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
But, the Democrats are unlikely to succeed because filing a new bill this late in a legislative session requires a high margin of support in a Legislature where Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers.
Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed House Bill 1523 into law last week.
District 41 Rep. Kabir Karriem (D-Columbus) was one of a handful of representatives to support the “Mississippi Economic and Tourism Recovery Act.” Karriem said the resolution requests that Speaker of the House Philip Gunn suspend the rules, and ultimately, allow a vote to repeal HB 1523.
“I think it’s a very bad piece of legislation that has come out of this session,” Karriem said of the bill. “It may be one of the worst that has come out of this legislature in years. This is an opportunity for members to reconsider having such a bill.”
The bill would have to make it through the Rules Committee before legislators could take any votes.
District 37 Rep. Gary Chism (R-Columbus), though, said the resolution probably isn’t going anywhere.
“They’re wasting their time,” Chism told The Dispatch. “It won’t even be taken up by the Rules Committee. It is effectively dead on arrival today, as soon as they dropped it off.”
Supporters of the Mississippi bill say it is designed to protect people from violating their own deeply held religious beliefs that marriage should only be between a man and a woman; that sexual relations should only occur in such a marriage; and that a person’s sex is determined at birth and is unchangeable.
Chism said the criticism Mississippi has faced since Bryant signed HB 1523 is blowing the bill out of proportion.
“This deals with the small subject of weddings,” he said. “A pastor or preacher doesn’t have to marry someone against his beliefs. A baker doesn’t have to bake a cake for someone who believes in gay marriage. A reception hall doesn’t have to rent to them. That’s really all the bill says. They’re making a mountain out of a molehill.”
Still, Karriem said the bill is causing serious damage to the state’s reputation, and legislators have a chance to fix it.
Several states and cities have banned travel to Mississippi and rock singer Bryan Adams canceled a concert in the state this week to protest the bill that they say promotes discrimination. Ninety-five Mississippi authors, including John Grisham and Donna Tartt, signed a letter Monday calling for repeal.
“No one wants to locate their business in an environment such as this right now,” Karriem said. “Mississippi is a great state. It’s a great place to live, to raise your kids. Nobody wants to be in an environment where hate is the prevailing attitude. We want this to come out of committee so we can repeal HB 1523.”
Dispatch reporter Alex Holloway contributed to this report.
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