It always strikes me as disingenuous when a politician tries to convince the hapless public that a bill the politician supported or, in Governor Phil Byrant’s case, signed into law, somehow has an entirely different meaning than what dozens of legal scholars are saying it does. 

This is what happened with House Bill 1523, and other states and businesses are taking notice and taking their money elsewhere.

On his public social media pages, Governor Byrant posted, “I am signing HB1523 into law to protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions of individuals, organizations and private associations from discriminatory action by state government or it’s political subdivisions, which would include counties, cities and institutions of higher learning.”

Have we not had this problem before, Mississippi? Was it not  this sort of whining, childish behavior that caused the greatest loss of life on American soil? On this, the month in which we were told by Governor Bryant that we should remember our history, our bloody, violent, bigoted heritage?

Well, it sure is a good thing we need to spend the little money that we have as a state fighting the evil gays instead of funding schools. On top of this, Mississippi is about to have even less money, because many states and municipalities are boycotting non-essential government travel to Mississippi. 

As it turns out, Title XI, the federal rule for educational institutions that requires them to not discriminate based on sex- including gender identity and sexual orientation, and Title VII, a similar rule that applies to employers, are in direct conflict with HB1523. The language of the new law alone has caused the federal government to begin investigations. 

There will also soon be hearings to decide whether to strip federal funding from Mississippi, according to a spokesperson from the White House.

The economic future is only a small price to pay to be able to tell that icky gay person they are not allowed to fight back when you try to fire them for their gayness. It is your God-given right to discriminate, as far as Mississippi’s legislature and governor are concerned. 

After seeing the chaos and economic implosion happening  in North Carolina in response to them passing a less discriminatory law, the Mississippi legislature decided to pass an even worse one themselves. Because, of course, that could never blow up in everyone’s faces.

According to NPR, the states of New York, Vermont and Minnesota are all banning non-essential governmental travel to the state of Mississippi, with more travel bans expected to come.

“Travel bans have been the go-to response for states and cities taking a stand against religious freedom laws,” NPR said. 

Backlash has even come from within the state, as cities such as Biloxi and Jackson have passed resolutions saying they refuse to follow the law, because it discriminates against their citizens or visitors. 

Even various Mississippi departments dealing with labor and economic growth warned that this law is bad for businesses, and some businesses have taken the initiative to post stickers and signs outside affirming that they do not agree with the law and will treat customers equally.

I think Mississippi is going to hurt from people refusing to do business with us, but it will really be those who are already poor and may or may not have even supported the law who will feel the brunt of the hurt. Those in power will not begin to feel the pressure until they are either removed from office or the federal government strips funding from our state. Hopefully Mississippi legislature or Governor Bryant will see the writing on the wall and repeal this particularly egregious example of government solving problems that do not exist.