Celebrities and journalists are fiercely reacting against the newly approved anti-LGBT Mississippi law, hiding under the guise of protecting religious freedom. One of the influential figures who recently expressed their sentiments in public was Ana Kasparian, a popular host of the online news and commentary program The Young Turks.
Kasparian blasted the ultra-conservative politicians for proposing and approving the discriminatory Mississippi law, originally HB 1523 or the Religious Freedom Bill but the lawmakers prefer to euphemistically call it “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act.”
Kasparian passionately argued:
“Religious owners in the state would rather lose out on business because they are hateful towards a specific group of people. Just think about that for a second… Bake the f*cking cake and shut the f*ck up.
“Seriously, what is it such a big deal? Like what’s gonna happen? Do you think that as you are on the process of blending your ingredients, you might think about touching some other man’s d*ck?”
Her co-host Cenk Kadir Uygur has pointed out the ridiculousness of the new law by illustrating absurd situations wherein asserting religious freedom based on the law will lead to contradictions and possible chaos.
He said that the law does not protect religious freedom but rather encourages discriminations based on arbitrary religious beliefs. People could also ban other religions.
The enactment of the law resulted to some backlashes like the ban on official travels by other states and the decision of PayPal not to establish business operations in Mississippi.
Kasparian also mentioned the fact that Mississippi is not winning on solving many social problems. For instance, the state has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the U.S. because there is no comprehensive sex education allowed in the public schools.
Instead of enacting socially progressive laws, the politicians in Mississippi seem to be obsessed about their conservative Confederate heritage.
