JACKSON, Miss. — Supporters of the LGBT rights movement won the latest round against conservatives when a federal judge ruled that a Mississippi “religious objections” law is unconstitutional, just moments before it was to take effect Friday.
The decision could influence federal judges considering challenges to other state laws and will be held up by gay-rights advocates as another reason for legislatures to back off considering similar bills.
Mississippi Republican Gov. Phil Bryant vowed to appeal.
The law sought to protect three beliefs: That marriage is only between a man and a 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.
It would allow clerks to cite religious objections to recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and would protect merchants who refuse services to lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people. It could affect adoptions and foster care, business practices and school bathroom policies.
U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves found that it unconstitutionally establishes preferred beliefs and creates unequal treatment for gay people.
It is “the state’s attempt to put LGBT citizens back in their place” in response to last summer’s Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage nationwide, he wrote.
“In physics, every action has its equal and opposite reaction,” wrote Reeves, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama in 2010. “In politics, every action has its predictable overreaction.”
The governor said it “simply provides religious accommodations granted by many other states and federal law.”
“I am disappointed Judge Reeves did not recognize that reality. I look forward to an aggressive appeal,” Bryant said in a statement.
Attorney General Jim Hood — the lone Democrat in statewide office — had been defending the bill but reversed course after the ruling, saying he doesn’t think an appeal is worthwhile for a state with budget problems.
More than 100 bills were filed in more than 20 state legislatures across the nation in response to the Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage, UCLA law professor Douglas NeJaime testified before Reeves last week.
NeJaime said Mississippi was the only state to enact a law listing specific beliefs to be protected.
Bryant signed Mississippi’s House Bill 1523 in April, winning praise from conservative Christian groups.
