ACLU sues Mississippi over 'religious rights' law
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jennifer Riley-Collins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, center, speaks Monday, May 9, 2016, in Jackson, Miss., about a lawsuit the group filed against the state over House Bill 1523, which will allow workers to cite their own religious objections to same-sex marriage and deny services to citizens. Behind Riley-Collins are attorney Oliver Diaz, left, and plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Nykolas Alford and Stephen Thomas. Alford and Thomas, of Meridian, Miss., are engaged. The lawsuit asks a federal judge to declare that House Bill 1523 violates the equal-protection guarantee of the 14th Amendment and to block the state from enforcing the measure, which is set to become law July 1. (AP Photo/Emily Wagster Pettus) (The Associated Press)
The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi is suing the state over a law that will allow workers to cite their own religious objections to same-sex marriage to deny services to people.
The suit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Jackson.
House Bill 1523 (http://bit.ly/1Mq4DyE ), passed by the Republican-majority Legislature and signed by GOP Gov. Phil Bryant, is set to become law July 1.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It was filed in response to last summer's Supreme Court ruling that effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Supporters say the law will protect people's religious belief that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Opponents say it violates the equal-protection guarantee of the Constitution.