Attorneys defend Mississippi law on denying LGBT services

JACKSON — Attorneys for Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant are defending a state law that lets government workers and private business people cite religious beliefs to deny services to LGBT people.

In arguments filed Monday to the U.S. Supreme Court, they wrote that the law protects people from being penalized for refusing to participate in activities they consider "immoral," such as same-sex marriage.

Legal experts say the 2016 Mississippi law is the broadest religious-objections law enacted by any state since the high court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015.

The law took effect last month amid multiple court challenges. It protects three beliefs: that marriage is only between a man and a woman, that sex should only occur in such a marriage and that a person's gender is determined at birth and cannot be altered.

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