GLAAD

Today, the Mississippi State Senate is expected to vote on HB 1523, an anti-LGBT “license to discriminate” bill that’s already passed  with overwhelming support in the state House and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Also known as the “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act” by its creators, HB 1523 “creates sweeping exemptions allowing people and businesses to discriminate against transgender people and same-sex couples based on their religious or moral beliefs,” according to the National Center for Transgender Equality. You can read the 13-page bill in full here.

HB1523 would allow religion to be used for blatant discrimination. #NOHB1523 @honerikrfleming @bfeldman89 @ACLUMSED t.co/wy50uKURkB

— ACLU of Mississippi (@ACLU_MS) March 28, 2016

Rally against #HB1523 — right to discriminate bill — at the MS State Capitol. #NoHateInMyState #WeAreAllMS #msleg pic.twitter.com/6jPcriO3BD

— Blake Feldman (@bfeldman89) March 29, 2016

.@honerikrfleming speaking on why @ACLU_MS opposes #HB1523. This isn’t about religious liberty. It empowers discrim. pic.twitter.com/8FnjeX3sjj

— Blake Feldman (@bfeldman89) March 23, 2016

The New Civil Rights Movement reports that Mississippi’s Governor Phil Bryant has already stated he will sign the bill, should it come to his desk, and writes:

The bill not only gives schools and businesses the right to bar trans people from using restrooms and locker rooms according to their gender identity, but also specifically allows counselors, doctors and others to refuse treatment to trans people…After the bill cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, the Human Rights Campaign noted that it would also allow foster parents to subject LGBT children to ‘conversion therapy,’ in addition to legalizing ‘Kim Davis-like discrimination’ on the part of government employees.

The outlet also notes, “It’s not just LGBT people who’d be affected. HB 1523 would also open the door to discrimination against anyone who’s had extramarital sex — a category of people which, according to one study, includes 95 percent of Americans.”

The Southern Povery Law Center tweeted the portion of the article that breaks down the pervasive impact of discrimination within the bill. 

Mississippi Lawmakers on Brink of Passing Georgia-Style Anti-LGBT ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill t.co/Ie7K5yCsjF pic.twitter.com/lUx5d55lH0

— SPLC (@splcenter) March 30, 2016

Mississippi, you can tell your senators to oppose #HB1523 here: t.co/G82t6yZkAy #msleg pic.twitter.com/dbCbNMwdem

— Protect Thy Neighbor (@protectneighbor) March 24, 2016

Use the power of email, phone and social media to influence legislators and empower others #nohb1523 t.co/4sfjtWNkJ2

— Erik Robert Fleming (@honerikrfleming) March 28, 2016

GLAAD has been speaking out against discriminatory laws in several states, including most recently Georgia, North Carolina, and South Dakota. GLAAD’s resource, “Debunking the ‘Bathroom Bills Myth‘” is a valuable resource for journalists and everyday people to understand the importance and impact of nondiscrimination bills, and ways to debunk falsehoods that often are raised in opposition to such bills. GLAAD is calling on media, both in Mississippi and nationally, to ask media to hold promoters of such discriminatory bills as HB 1523 accountable for false claims they have made.

LGBT advocates and media figures can also find background information about the LGBT community in Mississippi through GLAAD’s guidebook on the state. GLAAD developed the resource with the ACLU of Mississippi and The PRISM Center.

Tweet your opposition to Mississippi’s ‘license to discriminate’ bill using the hashtag #NoHB1523. Follow GLAAD on social media for regular updates about HB 1523.

Stickers worn by opponents of HB1523, which would let clerks cite religion to deny marriage licenses to LGBT. #msleg pic.twitter.com/oMSawsRCba

— Emily Wagster Pettus (@EWagsterPettus) March 23, 2016