Mississippi: White Woman Pulls A Gun On Black Couple Having Picnic At Lake

(screen capture)

A white female campground manager in Mississippi pulled a gun on a black couple and their dog accusing them of not having a reservation to picnic at the lake.

Jessica Richardson filmed the woman approaching her and her husband with a gun at the Kampgrounds of America in Starkville, Mississippi, on Sunday. Her husband, Sgt. Franklin Richardson, had just returned from a 9-month deployment in the Middle East and they were simply looking to enjoy the holiday weekend.

Brandishing her pistol, the woman told the couple to leave when she found out they didn't have a reservation.

According to reports, the manager has since been fired.

Richardson posted the video to Facebook with the following caption:

"RACISM IS ALIVE AND WELL!! Today was a beautiful day so my husband (who's a vet), our 2 year old dog, and myself, decided to Google a lake to visit and have a picnic. We found a lake located in Starkville and decided to visit. Not five mins later a truck pulls up and a white lady screams at us, she then jumps out of her truck with a gun... and proceeded to point it at the 3 of us, simply because we didn't make reservations. After leaving, my husband stopped by the office and talked with her husband (they're the property managers). The husband tells my husband that reservations aren't needed for the lake."

Click the image below to watch the video.

One Twitter user says he identified the woman as Ruby Howell, whose Facebook profile describes as a Christian who loves the Confederate flag.

The suspected white supremacist woman who pulled a gun on an innocent Black American couple for having a picnic in a park in Starkville Ms, is named Ruby Howell. The company she works for says she has been fired. BTW, she is a staunch Confederate flag supporter,so are we shocked? pic.twitter.com/W1SszIaba2

— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) May 29, 2019

Lawmaker Punched Wife In The Face When She Didn't Get Undressed For Sex Fast Enough

Mississippi Rep. Doug McLeod (image via Facebook)

Really, really pro-life Mississippi Rep. Doug McLeod hates abortions.

He also hates being made to wait for sex.

So, while the 58-year-old lawmaker co-sponsored a bill this year to ban abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected, that ‘sanctity of life’ perspective apparently disappears when he’s in a hurry to get jiggy with his wife.

According to an investigative report filed with the George County Sheriff’s Department, police were called to his home after McLeod allegedly punched his wife when she failed to get undressed quickly enough when he wanted to have sex.

Sanctity of life, folks. Sanctity of life…

McLeod's wife said her husband had "just snapped," and often did so when he was drinking, the report said.

Deputies found blood in the couple's bed and on the floor. They said McLeod became angered and punched his wife because she took too long to undress when he wanted to have sex.

After allegedly punching his wife, she ran into another room in their home where there was another woman who said the wife’s face was bloodied. She shut the door and locked it with McLeod’s wife inside.

The other woman told police that McLeod began banging on the door, threatening to “kill her (expletive) dog” if she didn’t open the door.

Sanctity of life, folks. Sanctity of life…

When police arrived at the home, McLeod didn’t even bother to put his cocktail down when he answered the door. Police officers report the lawmaker had slurred speech and walked in a zig-zag pattern.

He was eventually taken into custody on a charge of misdemeanor domestic violence and released on a $1,000 bond.

Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn has issued a statement calling for McLeod’s resignation:

“I have attempted to contact Rep. McLeod to request his resignation, if in fact, these allegations are true. These actions are unacceptable for anyone.”

The governor and other state lawmakers agree McLeod should step down.

Rep. McLeod should resign. https://t.co/4A9QcmbD3T

— David Blount (@SenDavidBlount) May 21, 2019

#Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn and state Republican chairman Lucien Smith issued statements that Republican Rep. Doug McLeod of Lucedale should resign if allegations that he punched his wife over sex are true. https://t.co/Dc1Gs9zrMb pic.twitter.com/pcrKmSkn5n

— Jackson Free Press (@JxnFreePress) May 22, 2019

This is Doug McLeod, a GOP lawmaker. He co-sponsored a bill to ban abortion after 6 weeks in Mississippi.

Doug has been arrested for punching his wife in face because she didn't undress quickly when he wanted sex.

Doug is a fucking monster.https://t.co/mK00uB2XJJ

— Greg Hogben (@MyDaughtersArmy) May 23, 2019

(source)

News Round-Up: April 19, 2019

Some news items you might have missed:

• I hear MTV Jersey Shore star Vinny Guadagnino, who joins the Chippendales here in Las Vegas as Celebrity Guest Host April 26 through May 26, is selling a LOT of tickets. And yes, men are always welcome at Chippendales.

• A new Rasmussen Reports national survey finds that 59% of likely U.S. voters say they would personally be willing to vote for an openly gay president; 30% would not, 12% are not sure.

• It's not just adults Donald Trump's transgender military ban is affecting. This college student lost his 3-year ROTC scholarship because of the new policy.

• A 28-year-old man in Mississippi was beaten so severely - his jaw was shattered in two places - because his assailants thought he was gay.

• 1995 drag classic To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar is being re-released for Pride Month on Blu-Ray with special features including deleted scenes.

• Christian home schooling parents, David and Louise Turpin, who beat, starved and held 12 of their children captive inside their home, were sentenced Friday to life in prison.

• The music and the magic of Elton John’s incredible life comes to the big screen in upcoming musical fantasy biopic, Rocketman.

Watch as the team behind the film discusses Elton John’s journey from prodigy to icon in this special look at Rocketman, in theatres May 31.

Podcast: Utah Fails On Conversion Therapy; Mississippi Tries To Ban Gay Prom Dates; Mr. Rogers Was Bi; Jussie Smollett Gets More Bad News

In this week's podcast:

• Utah's governor apologizes for legislature's failure to ban so-called 'conversion therapy'

• Empire star Jussie Smollett gets more bad news

• A Mississippi high school is pretending it isn't trying to ban same-sex dates to prom

• Folks are surprised to learn that the iconic Mr. Rogers may have been bisexual

• And new music from country artist Cameron Hawthorn reminds of the romance of 'Dancing in the Living Room'

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

Mississippi High School Bans Same-Sex Dates At Prom

Students at a Mississippi high school were given required attendance paperwork in order to attend prom that included language that clearly banned same-sex dates.

Via Yahoo News:

Students at Tremont Attendance Center in Mississippi were told to sign paperwork that included language stating that guests attending the Apr. 26th prom must be “of the opposite sex.” The rule was emphasized twice — in capitalized, bold letters — on the two-page form, and under a safety waiver that required student and parent signatures.

High school prom organizers that excluded same-sex couples from the upcoming dance deny the rule was homophobic.

“Guests must be 10th-grade–21 years old and of the opposite sex,” read the rule.

The form was shared on Facebook by Jack McCrory, a Tremont graduate whose niece is a current student. “From the open-minded and tolerant folks of the Tremont prom committee,” he wrote on Monday.

Trae Wiygul, the superintendent of Itawamba County Schools, did not respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment.

He told WTVA, “The Itawamba County School District does not sponsor or endorse proms. If prom is being held, it is a private affair hosted by parents. Since this matter allegedly concerns a parent, who is also a teacher, any activity that person may have done during school hours concerning a prom was outside the scope of employment and is being investigated.”

Wiygul said a teacher who passed out the forms is being investigated.

According to WTVA, a parent involved with prom said the rule was an attempt at “crowd control,” so students could not purchase tickets for unofficial dates. “That’s not relevant to a person’s sex,” McCrory tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

A Facebook post, allegedly written by a Tremont student and sent to Yahoo Lifestyle, says the paperwork was passed out by “multiple teachers” prefacing an intercom announcement from the principal, which warned that students could not bring same-sex dates.

Joshua Tom, the legal director of the ACLU of Mississippi, tells Yahoo Lifestyle, “Preventing same-sex couples from attending prom is discriminatory and unconstitutional. We’d advise that the county doesn’t repeat its discriminating actions from nine years ago or face legal jeopardy.”

Cindy "I'd Attend A Lynching" Hyde-Smith Wins Mississippi Run-Off For US Senate

Mississippi has voted 54/46 to send racist "I'd attend a lynching" Cindy Hyde-Smith to the US Senate.

Hyde-Smith’s victory means there will be a 53-47 majority for Senate Republicans in the next Congress beginning in January.

It's worth noting that Donald Trump won Mississippi in 2016 by 18 points. Hyde-Smith won by 8 points.

See what's happening there...?

It may not surprise you to learn Mississippi is ranked #50 in the US regarding education.

Gov. Phil Bryant said the media turned out Republican voters “like never before” with our reporting on Cindy Hyde-Smith. She won by the slimmest margin of any Republican running for this Senate seat in 40 years. #MSSen

— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) November 28, 2018

In the latest demonstration of their love affair with white supremacy, the majority of white women in Mississippi voted to send bigot @cindyhydesmith to the United States Senate.

I’m sure she’d love a ‘public hanging’ send off party...#MSSen

— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) November 28, 2018

Mississippi Supreme Court Acknowledges Parental Rights For Non-Biological Mother

A Mississippi woman has regained her parental rights to the child born during her marriage to her ex-wife in a new ruling by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

From the AP:

Mississippi’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a woman has parental rights to a 6-year-old boy born to her ex-wife when the two were married, in a case watched by gay rights activists and groups aiding in vitro fertilization.

Christina “Chris” Strickland brought the appeal, challenging a lower court decision that an anonymous sperm donor still had parental rights and that Strickland did not. Strickland ultimately hopes to win 50-50 custody of Zayden Strickland, who bears her last name and was born by Kimberly Day through artificial means when Day and Strickland were married.

All nine state Supreme Court justices found problems with the original, lower court ruling by Rankin County Chancery Judge John Grant III.

It's difficult to rationalize how a judge gives an anonymous donor (who is unknown to the child and probably always will be) equal rights to a birth mother but cuts out the other woman who has been a mother to the child since birth.

If Strickland had been a man in a heterosexual marriage that had a child through use of an anonymous sperm donor, I'm certain he would have still been treated like the father he was and been given parental rights without question.

Chief Justice William Waller Jr. acknowledged the Mississippi legislature needed to clarify state law:

“The Legislature should speak directly to the recognition of the legal status of children born during a marriage as the result of assisted reproductive technology,” Waller wrote.

Mississippi: Starkville City Council Reverses And Issues Permit For Pride Parade

After the Board of Aldermen in Starkville, Mississippi, voted against issuing a permit to allow the town's first Pride parade, organizers filed a federal lawsuit saying the Board’s decision to ban speech by Starkville Pride on city streets is a violation of the First Amendment and its discriminatory treatment, based solely on LGBT-related animus, violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

And so, the Starkville Board of Aldermen held another vote tonight to consider the permit.

With Ward 3 Alderman David Little abstaining, the vote was tied at 3-3. Mayor Lynn Spruill became the tiebreaking vote.

Mayor Spruill had previously denounced the denial saying, "I think it sends a message that we are not the inclusive community that I believe us to be."

Starkville Pride was live-tweeting during the meeting:

A representative of Starkville High School said she is speaking on behalf of everyone from the school who wanted to come but were “too scared.”

— Starkville Pride (@starkvillepride) March 7, 2018

A veteran speaks in favor of Pride, using the Bible as a means of defense. He said that the Aldermen do not get to “bully” the people of Starkville.

— Starkville Pride (@starkvillepride) March 7, 2018

Renowned civil rights attorney, Roberta A. Kaplan, who represented Starkville Pride, issued the following statement:

“Bailey McDaniel, Emily Turner and Starkville Pride stood up to vindicate the right to freedom of speech held by every American, no matter whether they are straight or gay.

What happened at tonight’s meeting was a victory not only for our clients and for their equal dignity under the law, but also for the core principle that in this country, we do not restrict a person’s ability to speak based on whether or not we agree with what they have to say.

We look forward to celebrating Pride with the LGBT community of Starkville and the rest of Mississippi on March 24.”

Mississippi: City Council Denies Pride Parade Permit With No Reason Given

The LGBT community of Starkville, Mississippi, was informed last week that an application for a permit to organize what would have been the town's first Pride parade was denied after a 4-3 vote by the town's aldermen.

To add to their frustration, the organizers weren't given a reason for the denial. Three of the aldermen who voted against the permit left through the back entrance.

At the city council meeting, 16 people showed up to support the parade, only two spoke against it. One of the naysayers told the city council a Pride parade would turn the town into "a Sin City."

Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill denounced the decision saying in a statement it sent a message that the small college town is not "inclusive." The mayor also pointed out that Oxford, Mississippi, where the University of Mississippi is based, has held gay pride parades for several years.

(source)

Mississippi: Starkville City Council Denies Permit For Pride Parade

With no explanation offered, the aldermen of Starkville, Mississippi, voted to deny organizers of a proposed Pride Parade a permit for the event.

The city council voted 4-3 against granting the permit to Starkville Pride even though 16 citizens showed up to speak in favor of the event.

"It's unfortunate that you go through the process, you do everything you're supposed to do and you get denied, really without any explanation as to why," alderman Jason Walker, who voted to approve the permit.

Only two spoke against allowing the event.

Resident Dorothy Isaac said she was against the parade because "God created Adam and Eve."

"Do not turn our city into a sin city," Isaac said. "It should not be this."

Starkville is a college town home to Mississippi State University. You can imagine there might be several LGBT students who would have liked to take part in a Pride event.

Starkville's mayor, Lynn Spruill, denounced the decision saying "I think it sends a message that we are not the inclusive community that I believe us to be."

With Starkville being home to Mississippi State University, Mayor Spruill noted that Oxford, Mississippi, where the University of Mississippi is based, has held gay pride parades for several years.

(source)

News Round-Up: January 22, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• I'm still jazzed about 2016 Summer Olympic sensation Pita Taufatofua (above) becoming a cross-country skier heading to the 2018 Winter Olympics in only a year.

• A young gay came out to his mother in Mississippi last week. But when the mother didn't know how best to respond, she wisely called a gay bar looking for advice :)

• The Twitterverse is not happy seeing Timothée Chalamet lose the Golden Globe and SAG Awards for his acclaimed performance in Call Me By Your Name to Gary Oldman.

• Porn actor Tegan Zayne tweets that two summers ago his co-star, Topher DiMaggio, forced him to have sex the night before shooting a scene. Zayne also alleges DiMaggio demeaned and degraded him during the video shoot calling him "a girl." DiMaggio denies the allegations.

• Back2Stonewall reports on anti-LGBT banners outside a gay-friendly church near Indianapolis. The banner read, "Die Faggots Just Like Orlando and Las Vegas." #HowCharming

• According to Fox News host Howard Kurtz's new book, Media Madness: Donald Trump, The Press, And The War Over The Truth, Donald Trump secretly admitted he was wrong to have former White House press secretary Sean Spicer exaggerate the size of the crowd attending his inauguration.

• Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon aren't the only gay athletes heading to the Winter Olympic Games. Check out these three queer women - Cheryl Maas, Ireen Wüst, and Belle Brockhoff - going for the gold in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

#tbt let’s lay it back like we used to and start the weekend early!! I always had the best time shooting with The MAN @vernondeck, this will be the first of many awesome photos I’ll be sharing that we made before social media was a thing! 😜 . . #throwbackthursday #oldschool #beforeinstagram #backintheday #throwback #goodolddays #halfpipe #shred #shredding #snowlife #getinspired #livelife #passionate #myway #timeofmylife #rockstarenergy #ridingisthereason #snowboarding #rockstarsnow #shredoptics #girlswhoshred #roadtokorea #myvans #snowboard #olympics2018 #freestyle #slopestyle

A post shared by 🍒Cheryl Maas🍒 (@cherylmaas) on Jan 11, 2018 at 6:33am PST

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses To Review Anti-Gay Mississippi Law

Bloomberg is reporting that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review a Mississippi “religious freedom” law, HB1523, that allows broad discrimination against LGBT people.

In denying the request for review, SCOTUS is allowing the law to remain intact.

The justices turned away two appeals by state residents and organizations that contended the measure violates the Constitution. A federal appeals court said the opponents hadn’t suffered any injury that would let them press their claims in court.

The Mississippi fight in some ways represented the flip side of a Colorado case the high court is currently considering; the question in that instance is whether the state can require a baker who sells wedding cakes to make one for a same-sex couple’s wedding.

The cases are testing states’ ability to regulate what happens when LGBT rights come into conflict with religious freedoms. Colorado is aiming to bolster gay rights by enforcing an anti-discrimination law, even though the Denver-area baker says he has a religious objection to same-sex marriage.

The Mississippi law, by contrast, gives priority to religious rights. The state enacted its law less than a year after the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

The measure says religious people can’t be sued or penalized by the government for declining to provide services for same-sex marriage ceremonies. The law also protects people who believe gender is an immutable characteristic or who object to sex out of wedlock.

The 2016 law was passed after the U.S. Supreme Court issued the landmark Obergefell ruling which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

BREAKING: Disappointed to learn that #SCOTUS has declined to hear our case against #HB1523, Mississippi's discriminatory anti-#LGBTQ "religious freedom" law. #HB1523Hurts

— Lambda Legal (@LambdaLegal) January 8, 2018

I am still very optimistic that any applications of this law to harm #LGBT people will be struck down. #HB1523 https://t.co/5C7hrEkU7J

— Shannon Minter (@shannonminter5) January 8, 2018

Disappointed to hear @Scotus declined to review this patently unconstitutional #LicensetoDiscriminate law. Other challenges to #HB1523 are ongoing and we will win this fight. https://t.co/8GSiJIe2FC

— Trans Equality (@TransEquality) January 8, 2018

We are disappointed that SCOTUS declined to hear @LambdaLegal’s case against #HB1523, but the fight to strike down this harmful anti-#LGBT law is not over. https://t.co/citjKe0pFS

— ADL (@ADL_National) January 8, 2018

Mississippi: New "Religious Freedom" Law Will Allow Broad Discrimination Against LGBTs

Beginning this Friday, a new "religious freedom" law will take effect allowing officials and service providers the legal right to deny services to LGBT folks based on religious beliefs.

From LocalMemphis.com:

House Bill 1523 will allow anyone from doctors to store owners to deny service for LGBT people based on individual religious beliefs.

Critics of the law call it the nation's most sweeping anti-LGBT law, while supporters say it protects their faith based convictions.

Those in opposition said they're contemplating their next legal step in the coming days.

The legislation passed in the Mississippi General Assembly last year, and was signed by Governor Phil Bryant, but faced legal challenges since had yet to take effect.

That's expected to change this week after a three-judge panel ruled the plaintiffs who sued in opposition to HB 1523 didn't have the standing challenge the law.

HB 1523 will protect three types of religious beliefs as justification to deny service to LGBT individuals in Mississippi including the conviction that marriage is between one man and one woman.

5th Circuit Court Of Appeals Gives Thumbs Up To Mississippi's Anti-LGBT Discrimination Law

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the ruling by a federal judge who found Mississippi's anti-LGBT discrimination law unconstitutional.

The law allows merchants and government employees to deny services to LGBTs based on religious beliefs.

Via Lambda Legal:

Today, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the injunction against Mississippi House Bill 1523, the discriminatory anti-LGBT legislation challenged in Barber v. Bryant, the federal lawsuit brought by Mississippi civil rights attorney Robert McDuff, the Mississippi Center for Justice and Lambda Legal. The advocates will continue to fight this discriminatory law.

Overruling the lower court decision, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit denied that LGBT Mississippians are subject to imminent discrimination by HB 1523 and ordered the block to the law lifted because the plaintiffs—a group of ministers, LGBT residents, community leaders and activists—lack standing since they cannot claim a specific harm caused by the law that has yet to go into effect.

“We had to put guards in front of our church after the bill initially passed because there was a truck with a swastika parked across the street and just this week the Christian Knights of the KKK distributed flyers throughout the Hattiesburg area. Today’s ruling leaves us more exposed, so we will have to be more vigilant than ever before to protect our church, our families and our dignity,” said Brandiilyne Mangum-Dear, Barber plaintiff.

More from Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade:

The law prohibits the state from taking action against religious organizations that decline employment, housing or services to same-sex couples; families who’ve adopted a foster child and wish to act in opposition to same-sex marriage; and individuals who offer wedding services and decline to facilitate a same-sex wedding.

Additionally, the bill allows individuals working in medical services to decline to afford a transgender person gender reassignment surgery. The bill also allows state government employees who facilitate marriages the option to opt out of issuing licenses to same-sex couples, but the person must issue prior written notice to the state government and a clerk’s office must not delay in the issuing of licenses.

Podcast: Season 2 Of Netflix's Sense8 , Trump & Religious Liberty, Anti-LGBT Army Secretary Nominee Withdraws & More

On this week’s  The Randy Report podcast:

• A Mississippi funeral home refuses to cremate a gay man

• The Equality Act reintroduced in Congress

• Donald Trump signed his Religious Liberty executive order without specific LGBT animus, but don’t exhale just yet

• Trump’s anti-LGBT Army Secretary nominee withdrew from consideration due to his past homophobic, transphobic and Islamophobic comments

• Netflix releases Season 2 of the LGBT inclusive sci-fi series, SENSE8 - #LoveIt

Listen below. And don't forget to subscribe to The Randy Report podcast on iTunes here.

Mississippi Funeral Home Sued For Refusing To Cremate Deceased Married Gay Man

For anyone who thinks we don't need laws to protect us.

Last May, Robert Huskey, of Mississippi, passed away at the age of 82 after coping with a longtime heart condition.

With the outcome becoming clearly imminent, Huskey's nephew made arrangements at the local funeral home for after his passing.

But on the day of his death, the Picayune Funeral Home refused to pick up and cremate Huskey's body. The refusal was based on the fact the funeral home had discovered Huskey was gay, and had lived with his husband, Jack Zawadski for 52 years.

According to Lambda Legal:

Since the nursing home could not keep Bob’s body on site, Jack and John had to scramble to locate another funeral home with an on-site crematorium. They located one in Hattiesburg, some 90 miles away. By that time, because Bob’s body could not be housed at the nursing home for the hours it would take for the Hattiesburg hearse to arrive, they had to find yet another funeral home in Picayune willing to transport Bob’s body to Hattiesburg.

The family has now filed a lawsuit against the funeral home with the help of Lambda Legal.

In a statement released Tuesday, Zawadski said, “I felt as if all the air had been knocked out of me. Bob was my life, and we had always felt so welcome in this community. And then, at a moment of such personal pain and loss, to have someone do what they did to me, to us, to Bob, I just couldn’t believe it. No one should be put through what we were put through.”

This is why we need The Equality Act to pass in Congress. Mississippi has NO discrimination protections for LGBT folks at all.

(source)

News Round-Up: July 1, 2016

Abby Lee Miller of Dance Moms

• Dance Moms Abby Lee Miller faces up to 2.5 years in prison for smuggling $120K into U.S.

• Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood may not appeal a federal judge's ruling which squashed the state's anti-LGBT law HB1523.

• Skittles UK drops it's rainbow for Pride in London to let the gays bask in the rainbow glow.

• Dolly Parton thinks Hillary Clinton would be a great president.

• Gawker posits whether Donald Trump might be tweaking diet pills to get him through the presidential campaign.

• Moodys Analytics, which has correctly predicted presidential races since 1980, predicts Hillary Clinton to win White House in electoral landslide.

• When former half-term governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, runs out of real words she just makes up new ones like "splodey." Crowd doesn't seem to notice.

MIssissippi: Federal Judge Strikes Down Anti-LGBT Legislation HB1523

Judge Carlton Reeves

From the Human Rights Campaign:

Last night, minutes before it was set to go into effect, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves blocked the implementation of Mississippi’s discriminatory and harmful H.B. 1523, calling it “a vehicle for state sanctioned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

The bill would stop state and local government agencies from taking action against state employees, individuals, organizations and private associations that deny service based on "religious beliefs."

In other words, all bigots would have to say is "I'm a Christian - I don't have to serve gays," and they get a free card to legally discriminate.

The case was successfully argued by Roberta Kaplan, the civil rights lawyer who argued in front of the Supreme Court of the United States in the landmark case United States v. Windsor.

This ruling effectively blocks the implementation of the unconstitutional law, as LGBT advocates push for full repeal.

From Mississippi Today:

In a blistering opinion that reached into Mississippi's segregationist past, U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves said House Bill 1523, signed by Gov. Phil Bryant in April, was another unfortunate example of Mississippi trying to write discrimination into its laws.

"Religious freedom was one of the building blocks of this great nation, and after the nation was torn apart, the guarantee of equal protection under law was used to stitch it back together. But HB 1523 does not honor that tradition of religion freedom, nor does it respect the equal dignity of all of Mississippi’s citizens," Reeves wrote in his opinion.

Federal Judge Rules Mississippi County Clerks Don't Get To Refuse Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

After the historic SCOTUS ruling last year which brought marriage equality to the entire United States, Mississippi passed a law as an attempted end-run around same-sex marriage allowing county clerks to recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses.

A federal judge has ruled that law unconstitutional.

Via Chris Geidner at Buzzfeed:

“[T]he Supreme Court’s ruling will be enforced,” U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves wrote of the year-old decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.

There was already a court order that stopped Mississippi from enforcing its ban on same-sex couples’ marriages. On Monday, the judge agreed to expand that order to address the so-called “recusal” provision of HB 1523, which was passed earlier this year and would go into effect on July 1.

“Having reviewed the relevant section of HB 1523, the parties’ arguments, and the scope of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell, the Court finds that [the recusal provision] may in fact amend Mississippi’s marriage licensing regime in such a way as to conflict with Obergefell,” the judge wrote.

Judge Reeves also addressed the idea of any ongoing disapproval over marriage equality after Obergefell:

“Mississippi’s elected officials may disagree with Obergefell, of course, and may express that disagreement as they see fit – by advocating for a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision, for example. But the marriage license issue will not be adjudicated anew after every legislative session.”

Mississippi: ACLU Files Lawsuit Over Anti-LGBT Law HB 1523

The ACLU and ACLU of Mississippi have filed a lawsuit challenging the recently passed HB 1523 which allows public officials and businesses to refuse to serve LGBTs.

Via the ACLU:

The lawsuit, which targets the registrar of vital records, was filed on behalf of ACLU of Mississippi members and Nykolas Alford and Stephen Thomas, a gay couple who are engaged to be married and face discrimination as a result of this law.

Plaintiffs Nykolas Alford and Stephen Thomas have been engaged for nearly two years. They describe the law, HB 1523, as “a slap in the face.”

“When HB 1523 passed, it was heartbreaking because it takes away our chance to finally be treated equally. At a time when we’re supposed to be excited as a couple engaged to be married, this law permits discrimination against us simply because of who we are. This is not the Mississippi we’re proud to call home. We’re hopeful others will come to realize this and not allow this harmful measure to become law,” they said.

The Supreme Court was clear in its marriage ruling last year: States must provide the “same legal treatment” to married same-sex couples that they provide to the marriages of different-sex couples. HB 1523 directly contradicts the Supreme Court’s ruling by treating the marriages of same-sex couples differently than the marriages of everyone else, the ACLU said. The statute does not authorize anyone to discriminate against the marriages of different-sex couples based on religious beliefs. It singles out the marriages of same-sex couples and provides a special right for governmental officials and for-profit businesses to discriminate against them.

“We’re stepping up to fight this sweeping anti-LGBT and unconstitutional law that authorizes discrimination against gay and transgender people,” said ACLU Staff Attorney Josh Block. “HB 1523 has no rightful place in Mississippi or in our history books, and we’re hopeful this lawsuit can stop as much of it as possible before it goes into effect. We won’t rest until every last piece of this law is struck down and all LGBT people in Mississippi have equal justice under the law.”

The harms caused by HB 1523 are not limited to married same-sex couples. In particular, HB 1523 includes many provisions authorizing discrimination against transgender people outside the context of marriage, and against anyone who has sex outside of heterosexual marriage. For procedural reasons, those other provisions cannot be attacked in this pre-enforcement challenge against the registrar, but the ACLU and ACLU of Mississippi are committed to challenging these other provisions as soon as possible if they go into effect.

“The ACLU stands firmly against discrimination in all forms,” said ACLU of Mississippi Executive Director Jennifer Riley-Collins. All citizens deserve the right to be treated equally regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The ACLU of Mississippi will continue to work to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the U.S. Constitution guarantees everyone in this country.”

The case, ACLU of Mississippi v. Judy Moulder, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in Jackson. The ACLU and attorney Oliver Diaz are co-counsel.