Mississippi's "religious freedom law" takes effect

Jackson, Miss. (WLBT) – Less than 24 hours after taking effect, an appeal has been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the Religious Accommodations Act that went into effect on Tuesday in Mississippi.

The Act was designed to protect three specific religious beliefs: that marriage is between a man and a woman; no sex outside of such marriage; and a person’s gender is determined at birth.

“It’s not how I do business,” said architect and business owner Jeff Seabold. “It’s not how I want to treat my neighbors my friends. Mississippi is just a big, small town so in the end we’re really talking about people’s aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, moms, and dads. To me, it’s just not very Mississippian.”

Many people believe the act violates the constitution.

“Your freedom of religion can’t be superseded by discriminating against someone else,” said Seabold.

However, Governor Phil Bryant said in a statement: “As I have said from the beginning, this law was democratically enacted and is perfectly constitutional. The people of Mississippi have the right to ensure that all of our citizens are free to peacefully live and work without fear of being punished for their sincerely held religious beliefs.”