Quick Note: With the Governor's Blessing, Mississippi Legalizes Discrimination

In February, so called refusal-of-service bills were being considered in Kansas:  http://whateyethynk-politics.blogspot.com/2014/02/quick-notes-same-sex-rights-this-week.html  and in Arizona:  http://whateyethynk-politics.blogspot.com/2014/02/quick-note-america-waits-on-governor.html

The Kansas attempt to legalize discrimination was pulled by state Senate President Susan Wagle and never received a vote.  The Arizona bill passed both chambers of the state legislature and was eventually vetoed by Governor Jan Brewer (R).  

The obvious discriminatory nature of these bills and the actions taken in Kansas and Arizona should have been a caution for any other state considering similar legislation.  Unfortunately, that has proven not to be the case.  Yesterday, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant (R) signed SB 2681, known as the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act, into law.  

Under the new law, any individual or business will now be protected from a charge of discrimination if they refuse to serve or assist a person or group they believe lives a life style contrary to their personally or "corporately" held religious beliefs.

Everything about this law is offensive, beginning with its name.  I mean, why use the word "Restoration?"  Was there any evidence of religious freedoms being denied conservative believers?  What needed to be restored exactly?

State Senator Gary Jackson (R) answered charges of using religion to justify discrimination: "There is nothing in this bill that authorizes discrimination against anybody.  This protects the Buddhist, the Christian, the Muslim against government interference."

I have to wonder, what government interference is he talking about?  It would seem to me that, prior to the passage of this new law, everyone was guaranteed equal treatment and equal access under Mississippi law.  It's the new law that creates "government interference" in the lives of members of one segment of society, a segment that can now legally be denied service at any business or by any individual. Where is their protection against discrimination?

In Georgia, two similar bills appeared to be DOA after businesses like Delta and Coca-Cola spoke out against them; but, late in March, on the last day of the first 2014 legislative session, the Preservation of Religious Freedom Act was tacked onto the backside of two labor bills that will be wending their way through the General Assembly later this year.

This fight is not over.