Jackson Free Press

Mississippi pastors, community leaders and a Hattiesburg church have filed a federal lawsuit challenging House Bill 1523, the third legal challenge to the "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act."

The plaintiffs have sued the governor (who recently received a Religious Freedom Award), the attorney general, the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services and the state registrar of vital records, asking the federal court to issue an injunction blocking the bill from becoming state law on July 1.

The lawsuit says that "with the passage and approval of that bill, the Legislature and the Governor breached the separation of church and state, and specifically endorsed certain narrow religious beliefs that condemn same-sex couples who get married, condemn unmarried people who have sexual relations, and condemn transgender people."

The plaintiffs will be represented by Jackson-based lawyer Rob McDuff and the Mississippi Center for Justice.

Read the complaint here. The press release from the MS Center for Justice has been reproduced, verbatim, below:

Ministers, Community Leaders, and Activists File New Lawsuit Challenging House Bill 1523

A group of Mississippi ministers, community leaders, and civic activists, along with a Hattiesburg church, today filed a new lawsuit in federal court in Jackson challenging House Bill 1523. The lawsuit claims the controversial measure violates the principle of the separation of church and state contained in the First Amendment of the Constitution.

The plaintiffs, represented by longtime civil rights lawyer Rob McDuff and the Mississippi Center for Justice, are asking the federal court to issue an injunction blocking the bill from taking effect on the scheduled date of July 1.

The lawsuit follows an earlier case filed by the ACLU challenging HB 1523 on different grounds. The ACLU suit also seeks an injunction prior to July 1.

Today’s lawsuit focuses on the language of Section 2 of HB 1523, which reads: “The sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions protected by this act are the belief or conviction that: (a) Marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman; (b) Sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage; and (c) male (man) or female (woman) refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth.”

The lawsuit claims that by enacting HB 1523, the Legislature and the Governor “specifically endorsed certain narrow religious beliefs that condemn same-sex couples who get married, condemn unmarried people who have sexual relations, and condemn transgender people.” The lawsuit notes that the bill provides special legal protection exclusively to people holding those beliefs, but not for those who have different beliefs.

“The people bringing this lawsuit, like thousands of people in Mississippi, do not subscribe to the religious views set forth in the bill, and do not believe the government should be interfering in religion by choosing some religious views over others,” McDuff said.

“Ensuring that government maintains neutrality on religious beliefs and respects …