JACKSON, Miss. — Today, HB 1523 is set to go into effect in the state of Mississippi, granting Mississippians the ability to use so-called “religious exemptions” to legally deny LGBTQ people employment, housing, adoption rights, marriage licenses, and even services at a local business. This follows Department of Justice guidance released last Friday which is…
During my eight year assignment in Silicon Valley, I had the opportunity to meet former San Francisco City Supervisor Carol Ruth Silver. Silver served in San Francisco City Hall from 1978 to 1989 and served with Supervisor Harvey Milk. Silver was a fearless political ally of Milk and she has a role in the Milk…
NEW YORK – The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decided Thursday to lift an injunction on HB 1523, granting Mississippians the ability to use so-called “religious exemptions” to deny LGBTQ people employment, housing, adoption rights, marriage licenses, and even services at a local business. “LGBTQ people in Mississippi learned that they could be wrongly…
MAGNOLIA, Miss. — Thursday, the Magnolia, Miss., Board of Aldermen unanimously enacted a city-wide non-discrimination protections that included sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, public accommodations and employment. The ordinance also includes a new LGBTQ-inclusive hate crimes provision. Magnolia is now the second city in Mississippi to pass a fully-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance, joining Jackson,…
JACKSON, Miss. — Thursday, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released the first video in a series titled #LoveYourNeighbor, a storytelling project focused on sharing the experiences of LGBTQ people and allies in Tupelo, Miss. The project was funded by a grant from Toyota, which has a manufacturing plant in Blue Springs, Miss, just outside of…
JACKSON, Miss. – Saturday, LGBTQ advocates and opponents of House Bill 1523 (HB 1523) – the so-called “Religious Freedom” bill that gives special rights to opponents of marriage equality and encourages discrimination against the LGBTQ community – rallied to raise their voices for equality and acceptance. Although HB 1523 was blocked by a federal court,…
A federal judge has refused to block Mississippi’s discriminatory H.B. 1523 law, one of the most draconian and hateful pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation passed in recent history. H.B. 1523, deceptively titled “The Religious Liberty Accommodations Act,” enables almost any individual or organization to discriminate against LGBTQ Mississippians at work, at school and in their communities….
JACKSON, Miss. – Today the Jackson Public School Board of Trustees voted unanimously to extend fully-inclusive sexual orientation and gender identity workplace protections to their employees. With almost 30,000 students, the Jackson Public School district is second largest in the state and one of the first in the Mississippi Public School system to grant employment protections to…
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights today issued a statement regarding recent state laws passed, and proposals being considered, in the states of North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kansas. The full statement follows: The United States Commission on Civil Rights strongly condemns recent state laws passed, and proposals being considered, under the guise…
WASHINGTON – Today, the Human Rights Campaign announced that more than 60 leading CEOS and business leaders, including executives from Bloomberg LP, CVS Health, Dropbox, Hilton Worldwide and Salesforce have signed onto an open letter calling on Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, and House Speaker Philip A. Gunn to repeal H.B. 1523. H.B. 1523, the so-called “Religious…
