The Mississippi legislature passed a bill Tuesday that both gay citizens and gay-rights activists have denounced publicly. The bill allows individuals and companies to assert a religious freedom defense against a lawsuit when refusing services to another private party. If the bill is signed by Gov. Phil Bryant, Mississippi would be the first state in the country to implement such a law.
For example, if a gay couple wanted to hire a florist for their wedding, the florist would have the option to claim it is his legally protected religious right to refuse service.
Four other states – Ohio, Arizona, Idaho and Oklahoma – are scrambling to find ways to make gay marriage illegal or to pass bills that give people the right to treat married gay couples differently.
The Mississippi bill and similar efforts from other states raise the question about whether the state will ever legalize gay marriage.
“There are people who are very by the book and this is how it is, very black and white, and it threatens people and its hard to see how or why it should,” said Jamie Nelms, a sociology professor at Ole Miss.
Joining a larger community speaking out for change, same-sex couples recently applied for marriage licenses in Mississippi and were declined.
Over 100 couples in seven southern states have applied for licenses, and none of them have been accepted, as public policy holds that marriage is between a man and a woman in Southern states.
There are currently 17 states that have legalized gay marriage, and of those states, none of them are in the South.
“I think it’s just your background and the culture of where someone comes from, especially in the South, of why they’re anti-gay,” said Nelms.
The South has a long history of being religious and some feel that gay marriage is an insult to their moral and religious beliefs.
Jordan Bard, a freshman English major who is gay, does not consider gay marriage to be a detriment to religion.
“Religion is not required for a happy marriage, and therefore no marriage poses a detriment to any religion,” Bard said.
Bard says he’s still optimistic that the South will change its attitude.
“The South will definitely be one of the last places to embrace marriage equality, but it will happen eventually, just like the equal rights movement of the 20th century.”
