Courtesy of Facebook.com
Students, faculty and staff at The University of Mississippi are responding to Gov. Phil Bryant’s signing of the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act by encouraging individuals to wear symbols of support at graduation for all Mississippians.
Kevin Cozart, the coordinator of operations at the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, said that as a university, we pledged to uphold the dignity and respect of all people.
“There are many within the community who feel that the so-called ‘Religious Freedom Bill’ fails to meet that pledge,” Cozart said.
The original text of the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act included protecting “the ability to act or the refusal to act in a manner that is substantially motivated by one’s sincerely held religious belief, whether or not the exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief.”
Cozart said some of those who supported the bill, and said it was about religious freedoms, are part of anti-LGBTQ organizations.
“It is important to note that several anti-LGBTQ organizations, including some that have been labeled as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, were involved with crafting the language and were in attendance for the private bill signing ceremony,” Cozart said.
Cozart said it is hard to say how many people were involved in creating this response to the act, because there have not been many formal conversations about it.
The group planning the opposition has asked people to wear positive symbols of support.
“We want to show support for individuals who could be negatively affected by the law while maintaining dignity and respect for graduates and their families,” Cozart said.
Some of these positive symbols include human rights equality stickers, lavender cords and rainbow flag stickers.
Cozart said he understands that Bryant has been scheduled to speak on campus for about a year and understands the difficult position in which the university finds itself due to recent events. He said this is not a movement made up of just graduates, but people at all levels of the university.
“We want to show that we support all members of The University of Mississippi community and value and respect their contributions as faculty, staff, students and alumni,” Cozart said.
Cozart said less than 20 years ago the first LGBTQ student group was forced to meet in a secret location with a University Police Department officer standing outside to protect them, but now people are willing to speak out in support of the LGBTQ community.
“I think it says we are evolving as a university,” Cozart said. “As our LGBTQ sisters and brothers come out, there is growing support for them in our family.”
Jennifer Stollman, the academic director at the William Winter Institute of Racial Reconciliation, said it is great that individuals are coming together for a response and that the way they are handling the response is very mature.
“This kind of display is a great way to demonstrate support for civil right for all people on campus,” she said.
Stollman said she does not know if students are going to attempt to do a physical display. She said sometimes protests can interrupt graduation, but this is a good way for LGBTQ supporters to have a voice.
“I think here there is a general consensus that people want to share support for LGBTQ members and their allies, but not necessarily interrupt what’s going on,” Stollman said. “Wearing a sticker or wearing a cord is a respectful and less volatile way to demonstrate support.”
The number of participants is not absolute, but Stollman said she is certain of a strong turnout.
Stollman encourages people to research why people are responding to Bryant. She said many people with whom she has spoken believe this topic falls under the topic of civil rights.
“So a student can sort of look at their civil rights history and wonder, ‘Do we have the right as a society to deny someone equity based on their sexuality?’” Stollman said.
Junior biology major Pooja Chawla said she thinks the planned response is good for the university.
“I think it’s important that our student body is able to express their opinions,” she said. “Especially since it might impact some of the students in the future.”
Stollman said it is part of the university’s creed to value people because of their identity, not in spite of their identity, and she is proud to see the community come together.
“As a member of this community, fully expect that The University of Mississippi is going to support equity for all of its people,” she said. “It’s in our creed.”
