(Photo by: Cameron Brooks)
Rob Hill, state director of HRC Mississippi, speaks to students and other ralliers Monday in front of the Union.
Pastor-turned activist Rob Hill spoke to a crowd of more than 20 LGBTQ community members and allies on the front steps of the Union yesterday in a rally calling for the repeal of Mississippi’s most recent law protecting religious convictions across the state.
The Mississippi branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and the UM Law School group, OUTlaw – a LGBTQ advocacy group on campus made up of law students – organized a demonstration outside of the Union after Tuesday’s forum covering House Bill 1523.
House Bill 1523 gives legal protection to Mississippi citizens who refuse service based on religious convictions surrounding marriage and sexuality. According to the bill, a business may refuse service based on one of three religious beliefs: that marriage is between a man and a woman, that sex should only be between a married man and woman, and that gender is defined biologically at birth. Eight Christian Republicans wrote the bill.
University of Mississippi ACLU president and OUTlaw secretary Ashton Fisher sat behind a rainbow clad table outside of the Union, awaiting the supporters flowing out of the forum. Hundreds of letters addressed to ESPN and the SEC were on the table.
(Photo by: Cameron Brooks)
Cliff Johnson speaks to ralliers Tuesday afternoon in front of the Union.
Protestors could sign their name at the bottom of these letters, which urged the networks to not air sports events held in Mississippi while the law is in effect.
OUTlAW and the ACLU provided signs, stickers, and chants for the crowd as they left the forum. Hill, the state director of the Human Rights Campaign, gave the headlining speech.
“HB 1523 has nothing to do with religious protection. This is unjust and against the law. It’s unconstitutional,” Hill said to the sign-waving crowd. “It hurts me. It angers me. It saddens me to see faith used as a tool to discriminate against others.”
In his speech, Hill echoed attitudes expressed by students, staff, and locals during the forum. The hour and a quarter long discussion of HB 1523 gave everyone there the chance to clarify their understanding of the bill and to voice their issues with it.
One faculty member printed out Mississippi’s constitution in full to quote when he stood up to address the room.
The overwhelming consensus of the group was that HB 1523 has no place in the Mississippi legislature. Not one of the voices at the forum spoke up in favor of the protection the law offers.
The troupe of people expressing the same views, however, could not have been more diverse. Black or white, young or old, gay or straight, it didn’t matter: they were all speaking out against the law.
(Photo by: Cameron Brooks)
Cliff Johnson speaks to ralliers Tuesday afternoon in front of the Union.
Forum host and Associate Dean and education professor Amy Dolan noticed the crowd’s “visible presence of difference.”
She said the forum had a really good turn out compared to forums she has worked in the past. Her role was to outline what the bill contained, summarize its aftermath and open the floor for discussion.
“People felt free to talk comfortably, and they spoke from the heart,” Dolan said.
Those who voiced their opinion, spoke personally and to the point.
One female student accused the state of ostracizing its own citizens.
If the only grocery store for 40 miles around refused service to a family based on this law, she asked, what would that family do?
One woman choked through tears, asking what she should do in this situation as a gay state employee.
ACLU representative Todd Allen also joined the conversation.
“Who we would like to put on trial is Gov. Bryant,” he said.
After the rally, Allen said this bill was an effort for more power, creating a battle of “God against the gays,” and he hopes Mississippi’s next 200 years would be discrimination-free.
The ACLU and Human Rights Campaign is leading a march in Jackson on May 1, from the Capital to the governor’s mansion. Six days later, Oxford will hold its own rally.
