It’s always gratifying when you get to see people fight back against injustice first-hand. In this day and age, people have no choice but to be open-minded, but sadly, there are still people out there who make it their mission to reverse all the hard work that’s been done to make the world a better place for all types of people.
This week, Governor Phil Bryant of Mississippi enacted the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act in order to please people with “deeply held religious beliefs,” aka people who are close-minded and disrespectful of people who are “different.”
According to Reuters, the new law permits people with religious oppositions to refuse wedding services to same-sex couples. The law also allows employers to reference religion when establishing workplace guidelines on dress code, grooming and bathroom and locker entry.
“This bill does not create one action against any class or group of people. It doesn’t create a new action or a new defense of an action against those people,” Byrant hypocritically said.
In response to the ridiculous law, Planting Peace, a humanitarian rights organization, rented an electronic billboard located in Jackson. The billboard reads: “Guys, I said I hate figs and to love thy neighbor” and displays an image of a noticeably disappointed Jesus Christ.
“There are LGBT youth across the world who are taking their lives at an alarming rate because of these messages that make them feel broken or less than,” said Aaron Jackson, president of Planting Peace. “Our message to our LGBT youth: You are loved, valued, supported, and beautiful.”
Personally, I think what Planting Peace did is exactly what needed to be done. Bryant and others accepting of the new law need to realize the harsh, negative impact such laws have on youths and adults struggling to feel accepted by society.
Not only is this new law completely judgmental and unethical, but it takes away from all the progress that has been made to alleviate the LGBTQ community from being publicly scorned for their sexual orientation. In my opinion, this bill should have never been passed in the first place, and Bryant deserves a lot more than a sarcastic billboard to pay for all the damage he’s done.
Photo via Flikr by CJF20 under a Creative Commons 2.0 license.
