Skip to main content

Why Judge Ruled This Mississippi Law 'State-Sanctioned Discrimination'

CBN

Share This article

A Mississippi judge just struck down a law that would have allowed business and government employees to deny services to gay and transgender people. 

The Blaze reports the law was put in place to protect three beliefs:

•That marriage is only between a man and woman
•That sex should only take place in such a marriage
•And that a person's gender is determined at birth and cannot be altered

The law would also allow clerks to cite religious objections to exempt themselves from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and would also protect merchants who refuse services to gay or transgender people. 

However Judge Carlton Reeves issued a 60-page opinion in which he described the law as being "state-sanctioned discrimination." 

"There are almost endless explanations for how HB 1523 condones discrimination against the LGBT community, but in its simplest terms it denies LGBT citizens equal protection under the law," wrote Carlton. 

According to the judge, the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment. 

State attorneys are expected to appeal the ruling, which came overnight in response to two lawsuits that were filed weeks ago by gay and straight plaintiffs, according to the Blaze.  

Share This article