States react negatively to Mississippi’s new anti-LGBT law
Governors in New York, Vermont, and Washington have banned state employees from most work-related travel to Mississippi after the state enacted a discriminatory anti-LGBT law.
Furthermore, a number of Mississippi’s largest employers, including MGM Resorts and Nissan, have issued statements opposing the law, and major tech companies have also spoken out, claiming legal discrimination runs contrary to their values.
Some state governors immediately responded to the state’s legislation by issuing travel bans. Washington Governor Jay Inslee (D) officially banned non-essential state travel to Mississippi, stating his obligation to protect equality for all persons, including Washington residents who might travel to Mississippi. Inslee also banned non-essential, state-funded travel to North Carolina last week after the state passed a law explicitly discriminating against transgendered people.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) also issued an Executive Order banning non-essential state travel to Mississippi. Governor Cuomo issued a similar travel bans for Indiana and North Carolina after those states passed their own anti-LGBT laws.
Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin (D) issued a similar ban, and invited online payment company PayPal to consider relocating to Vermont after the business announced it was pulling out of North Carolina Tuesday morning in reaction to an anti-LGBT law passed in the state last week.
The new Mississippi law is explicitly anti-LGBT. It proclaims that transgender identities aren’t valid, marriage is exclusively heterosexual, and extra-marital intercourse is objectionable.
The new law also allows for a long list of discriminatory actions under the guise of “religious liberty.” For example, Mississippi businesses are now legally permitted to deny services to same-sex couples, and woman can even be fired for wearing pants. Several Mississippi cities have passed resolutions condemning the law, and many Mississippi Democrats and members of the LGBT community have expressed their disappointment with Gov. Phil Bryant.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis
via Think Progress
