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<\/a>\u00a0Deirdra Harris-Glover I have often said that moving to Mississippi was the first time in my life I ever felt afraid to be myself. The newly passed Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act, formerly known as HB 1523, is something that makes me feel real fear for myself, the kid I raise, and for my community.<\/p>\n I am proud to be a Tiger, but I am also proud of many other things that make me wholly and completely myself, including that I am a queer woman in a fantastic 10-year marriage to the greatest spouse the universe could throw my way.<\/p>\n Governor Phil Bryant has just signed a bill into law that intends to allow Christians\u2014even state employees\u2014to discriminate and deny service to LGBTQ people, but it has farther-reaching implications than that.<\/p>\n The ramifications of this bill are devastating. Setting dress codes and aesthetic standards, reserving sexual relations to a heterosexual MARRIAGE, allowing state employees (and anyone, really) to discriminate against anyone based on any deep religious conviction without penalty. Let\u2019s never forget that some Confederate sympathizers felt that the Abolitionist Movement was anti-scriptural, and held the deep religious conviction that opposing slavery was tantamount to rejecting Christianity. Neo-Confederates claim the Confederate battle flag as an orthodox Christian symbol.<\/p>\n We must remember that religion has often fanned the flames of white supremacy, oppression of women, and other countless indignities to the soul. We must stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone fighting for equity, equality and the right to live freely without fear of reprisal.<\/p>\n Still, I feel hopeful for Mississippi. Not a hope in some grand reversal of harmful click-bait politics, but a realization among the people of Mississippi that our issues, our fates and our futures are entwined. I don\u2019t blame anyone who leaves the state for their comfort or safety, but take a moment before you go and advocate on behalf of the friends you\u2019ll leave behind. Look past the rainbow flag if you must and call out the people who are supportive of the LGBTQ community. Younger people are changing Mississippi\u2019s landscape, and I entrust its future to those who have learned from their elders\u2019 mistakes.<\/p>\n At press time, The Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act has earned calls for repeal by big businesses such as Bomgar, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Toyota, Nissan, AT&T and Hewlett Packard and Intel, as well as state and local agencies. They want no part in state-sanctioned bigotry.<\/p>\n Already the state is facing economic backlash. The Mississippi Picnic in Central Park has canceled what would have been the 37th picnic; Canadian rocker Bryan Adams cancelled his concert; according to the Clarion-Ledger, a group planning to shoot six films in Mississippi has opted for other locations; some of the acts scheduled for the Sun and Sand Film Festival have cancelled. I am sure this will only be the tip of the iceberg for money the state will lose.<\/p>\n The University of Mississippi, Mississippi State, University of Southern Mississippi and Millsaps College have spoken out against this act of legislative marginalization. Mother Teresa once said that \u201cfaith in action is love, and love in action is service.<\/p>\n It is my most sincere hope that we at Jackson State University will act from a place of faith, love and service, so students from all backgrounds will feel safe and free to be themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0Deirdra Harris-Glover Staff Writer I have often said that moving to Mississippi was the first time in my life I ever felt afraid to be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7350"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7350\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n