Mississippi LGBT religious objections law argued on appeal

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A lesbian couple from Mississippi traveled to Texas and spent their second wedding anniversary watching arguments in a court case that they believe could affect whether they face officially sanctioned discrimination in their home state.

Brandiilyne Mangum-Dear said she and her wife, Susan Mangum, were married in California in 2015, a few weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. The Mississippi Legislature in early 2016 passed a law that would let merchants and government employees cite religious beliefs to deny services to same-sex couples.

Gay and straight plaintiffs sued the state of Mississippi, and a federal district judge halted the law before it could take effect in July 2016, ruling that it unconstitutionally establishes preferred beliefs and creates unequal treatment for LGBT people.

The law started as House Bill 1523 . It would have allowed clerks to cite religious objections to recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and would have protected merchants who refuse services to LGBT people. It could have affected adoptions and foster care, business practices and school bathroom policies.

Read more: http://www.roanoke.com/news/nation/wire/mississippi-lgbt-religious-objections-law-argued-on-appeal/article_59a108d0-f6eb-553c-b9ec-05d593c0373a.html