News & Commentary

By Noa Yachot, Communications Strategist, ACLU

By Brigitte Amiri, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

Momentum for extending equality to the LGBTQ community is happening in Mississippi. Through our Advocacy Department and in response to House Bill 1523, the ACLU of Mississippi asked about two dozen mayors to show their support for the LGBTQ community by:

Change is always discussed and planned during an election year. Right now, across the entire country, people are marching, demonstrating and protestin

Many of us have seen and heard the commentary regarding House Bill 1523, the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act. Some of us have noted that the bill is discrimination codified. Others have pointed out that the intended adverse impact on the LGBT community is hurtful. Not all of us realize that the negative effects of HB1523 extend beyond the intentional harm to our LGBT brethren. HB1523 hits home in communities of color, impoverished communities, and already vulnerable communities with consequences that create additional risks. As many others have already said, the same prose that our state leadership is using to describe this bill has also been used to justify slavery, women's suffrage, and Jim Crow. Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric. HB 1523 is not narrowly tailored, does not protect one’s religious freedom, and will not protect you from a lawsuit. It is state-sponsored discrimination – plain and simple. House Bill 1523 puts everyone at risk, including the black community.

 

By Jennifer Riley-Collins, Executive Director

By Erik R. Fleming, Director of Advocacy and Policy