On several occasions in the last two years, Bailey McDaniel and her friends have experienced discrimination in Starkville, Mississippi, from businesses and individuals who refuse to provide services to LGBT people.
McDaniel, a junior at Mississippi State University (MSU), has not been a silent observer, however. She has become an activist and president of the LGBTQ+ Union at MSU. “I personally know LGBT students who have been kicked out of local establishments and the university didn’t really have any response to it,” she tells Diverse, adding that she also has had similar experiences.
On July 1, a controversial law was to go into effect in Mississippi, providing legal protection to people who deny service to members of the LGBT community based on religious or moral beliefs. Opponents of the law say it reinforces previous legislation that already allows open discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation; supporters say it protects the rights of people who oppose homosexuality for religious or moral reasons.
However, a U.S. district court judge struck down the measure on June 30, blocking its implementation. Judge Carlton Reeves declared the measure unconstitutional and called it “state-sanctioned discrimination.”
For the state’s higher education institutions, the law has raised questions about whether current policies of diversity and inclusion on campuses will be impacted by the new law.
House Bill 1523, signed by Republican Gov. Phil Bryant in April as the “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” is the latest measure in alleged anti-LGBT legislation.
This is all part of an ongoing battle in the state. Two years ago, the Mississippi Legislature passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which allows individuals or businesses to deny service to people if providing that service goes against their religious or moral beliefs. This year’s law ensures that those who discriminate on “sincerely held” religious or moral grounds will be immune from legal liability.
