Margaret-Ann Horton and numerous followers congregated throughout the day this past Tuesday on the drill field to peacefully protest HB1523 on April 12th . 
         HB1523 is a bill that was recently signed by Governor Phil Bryant to protect religious freedoms within the state of Mississippi. Since, there has been an enormous amount of feedback regarding the new act cited as the “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act.”
   Individuals both within and whom support the LGBTQ community are upset with the bill since it is strictly against same sex marriage, sexual relations before marriage, and specifically believes an individual’s sex is determined and concrete from birth. 
  The coordinator of the event had feelings synonymous with others when she explained how this act had affected her.
“I choose to look at people’s hearts and intentions before I chose to judge them. So, when I heard about what our leaders of this state had done against a group that I have many close and dear friends in, I could not sit silent. I cried and grieved for a day or two after the bill was passed, and then I became angry. This is my home. Mississippi has come way too far from its days of discrimination to allow this absurd law to hold place in our government,” said Horton.
  Other states and cities within the continental United States have decided to ban travel to Mississippi, including Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington and bigger cities like Seattle and New York City. 
   “Our country is looking at us in disgust right now because of this law,” said Horton.
  Other protestors felt that although they weren’t necessarily part of the LGBTQ community themselves, it was still an important cause to support.
   “I just feel like it’s the right thing to do,” said protestor Loggan Malone who is also a Biology major at Mississippi State University as she signed the petition that was present at the protest.
    Horton reported that their were roughly 350 signatures on the petition once the protest concluded. 
     On  Wednesday April 6th, Horton created an event for the protest on Facebook, titled MS Anti-LGBT Law Protest.   
    “I had to take action. I began a Facebook group starting the rally, and it has spread like wildfire ever since,” Horton explained.
  Although the initial scheduled date of the protest on April 11th got rained out, people still came out the very next day. It seems as if the majority of feelings were in support of the LGBTQ community, but also to help convince the public that Mississippi isn’t entirely full of people who support this bill.
   “There are so many young leaders here determined to lead us in the right direction,” said Horton. “Together we will put this act of hatred and ignorance to shame and show that Mississippi accepts and loves people for who they are!”