Power

Mississippi Judge Won’t Block Law That Could Deny Services to Gay Couples

A federal judge Monday refused to block a law that advocates say will enshrine discrimination against the LGBTQ community.

A federal judge in Mississippi on Monday refused to block a law that challengers say will deny wedding services to LGBTQ couples, all in the name of protecting “religious liberties.” John Moore/Getty Images

A federal judge in Mississippi on Monday refused to block a law that challengers say will deny wedding services to LGBTQ couples, all in the name of protecting “religious liberties.”

The Mississippi legislature passed HB 1523, the “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” this year; the law is set to take effect July 1. The law allows denial, “based upon a manner consistent with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction,” of services or goods for the “celebration or recognition of any marriage.” This could also include pre-ceremony, post-wedding, and anniversary celebrations. The law specifically provides protection for people who believe that marriage is a commitment only between a man and a woman, that sexual relations should only take place inside such a marriage, or that a person’s “immutable biological sex” is determined by anatomy and genetics at birth.

In May, attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Mississippi sued to block the law, arguing it was unconstitutional. These attorneys say HB 1523 goes far beyond refusing wedding services by allowing county clerks to deny marriage licenses. They claim the law is likely to allow discrimination against same-sex couples who wish to adopt, and will encourage employee business practices that could include harmful bathroom policies.

But on Monday, Federal District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled that the plaintiffs, who include Nykolas Alford and Stephen Thomas, a gay couple engaged to be married, failed to show evidence that they faced a “substantial threat of irreparable harm” if the law was not blocked immediately.

“Here, none of the plaintiffs are at imminent risk of injury,” Reeves wrote. “Alford and Thomas’s injury, if one exists, would arise when they apply for a marriage license. But they declare that they will apply for their license sometime within the next three years,” Reeves continued. “That is not imminent. The ACLU has the same problem. If a member of the ACLU intends to enter into a same-sex marriage in 2017, any injury is at least six months away.”

In response to the ruling, the ACLU filed a motion requesting Reeves reconsider the denial of the injunction, which would block the implementation of the law as trial proceeds. Meanwhile, the judge has ordered both attorneys for the State of Mississippi and the ACLU to begin working up a scheduling order to move the case toward trial.

A date for that trial has not yet been set.