Mississippi law legalizing discrimination passes both houses, travel advisory issued

You can buy a tee shirt with this image on it from
the KKK

Some things remain the same.

The House and now the Mississippi Senate has passed a bill making it legal for a person to sue for an infringement of their religious beliefs.

Here's the unbelievable part. The act doesn't have to be committed, the offended party only has to believe it will or could happen.

Seeking to squelch public outrage and legal concerns the law will be discussed three times publicly in committee.

Source Jackson Free Press "The Mississippi House of Representatives passed the RFRA—Senate Bill 2681—proposal 80 to 37 after its Republican sponsors, in a face-saving move, amended it to create a legislative study panel. The amended bill keeps a provision that would add the phrase "In God We Trust" into the state seal, but removes controversial language that civil-liberties groups argued could clear the way for Jim Crow-style legalized discrimination."

"After dispensing with most other items on the calendar, the House went into a series of recesses in an apparent attempt for the Republican leadership to convince fellow Republicans to support the bill. When it became clear that the votes were not there, Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, offered the study committee as an alternative."

"It is our First Amendment right to worship the God we want to worship," said Gipson, who added that protecting that right was too important to outright kill SB 2681.

"We need a well-reasoned bill that protects our religious freedom," Gipson said.

The fox guarding the hen house.

The bill will then go to the governor, who originally requested the law, for his signature.

The main proponent behind the bill, Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. serves as president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He had the outrageous audacity to suggest in a audio message  failing to enact the law would enable a KKK member to demand a Jewish deli owner cater their cross burning.

Is he serious? It's no secret who's under those sheets Mohler, it was your so called 'christians' And yes your ability to discriminate is now under national and state scrutiny. And yes you're discriminatory message is falling on sparse crowds.

But they are fighting back.

Christain Action Center alert and the link to the Southern Baptist leader's
supportive audio message

The local chapter of GetEqual has issued a travel alert. Some would consider that hyperbol but I can tell you as a former truck driver from the south it's words to the wise.

Christian bigotry embedded in KKK mentality is live and well in Mississippi, and that's dangerous.

Transgender woman Monica Jones stands trial today for walking while trans and refusing Catholic "Project Rose"

Monica Jones was arrested one night after protesting Arizona's failed religious anti LGBT legislation for 'manifesting prostitution" while walking while trans.

Since Jones hadn't been previously charged with similar 'crimes' Ms. Jones was offered a deferral if she enrolled in the Catholic "Project Rose" and successfully completed it.

However, Ms. Jones is fighting back refusing the plea and religious programming despite being repeatedly harassed by police.

Moskal-Dairman is certain her friend was profiled, saying Jones was stopped multiple times after the initial run-in with the undercover officer and that SWOP-Phoenix has video of police profiling Jones and using discriminatory language against her.

“She was profiled as a sex worker because she’s a trans woman of color. She is not guilty,” Moskal-Dairman said.

Jones has sequentially becoming a local and national icon for the woman previously targeted by this program with it's 70% fail rate.

The programs co founder was recorded in the video below saying she believes that once a woman prostitutes herself she will forever remain burdened with shame.

Once you have prostituted yourself,  having so many body parts in your body, and doing so many weird and freaky things you can never have not have not prostituted.

No argument there. Once you become indoctrinated with Catholicism you will be forever shameful.

Monica isn't the first one to suffer the consequences of speaking up. Al Jazeera reporter Jordan Flaherty was fired and his 2013 article "Arizona's tenacious laws against sex workers US state's initiative that aimed to improve prostitutes' lives has brought "no real reform" as harsh penalties persist" was deleted. You can still read Jordans article here.

Update!
Monica's trial has been postponed due to a constitutional challenge to the Manifestation of Intent to Prostitute’ Statute. Read about it at here


Sex Work In Phoenix from news clips on Vimeo.

Al Jazeera has since published a watered down version of their original article but RT has taken up the slack by publishing Sex workers in Arizona given choice of therapy in church or arrest.

The Young Turks hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian brake it down, jail or church.