This morning LGBTQ people in Mississippi woke up knowing that their state now officially has the most discriminatory anti-LGBTQ laws on the books, worse than any state in the country.
Today HB1523, a religious refusal law, took effect in the Magnolia State. The law authorizes Mississippi officials and service providers, such as doctors and store owners, to refuse to serve LGBTQ people on the basis of three specific religious beliefs about marriage between same-sex couples, transgender individuals, and sex before marriage.
It’s a terrible law, leaving all LGBTQ people vulnerable to discrimination – and now that it’s in effect, you can bet that opponents of LGBTQ equality in state legislatures nationwide will seek to replicate its effects in their own states.
The 2018 legislative session is fast approaching – and we need to be ready to resist bills like HB1523 in key states nationwide. Can you help us prepare by donating $4 to Freedom for All Americans’ States Action Team, which was built to fight back against anti-LGBTQ legislative attacks? Click here.
When Indiana passed its distorted “License to Discriminate” RFRA law in 2015, dozens of state legislators held the law up as inspiration for their own attacks. When North Carolina prohibited restroom access for transgender people, many nearly identical bills advanced far in other state houses.
Now, we anticipate our opponents to look to Mississippi’s HB1523 as an example of a “License to Discriminate” that they can pass in their own state – and we can’t let that happen.
LGBTQ people need laws protecting them from discrimination – not laws that ease discrimination altogether. Our States Action Team is gearing up for a busy legislative session in 2018 – and we need you with us.
Click here to donate $4 to the States Action Team and make a difference so we can avoid the next HB1523.
Thank you,
Kasey Suffredini
Freedom for All Americans

http://www.newnownext.com/stonewall-inn-trump-national-monument/04/2017/?fb_ref=fbshare_web

The Stonewall Inn, National Historic Landmark
Stonewall is nationally significant because it is associated with events that outstandingly represent the struggle for civil rights in America. The nominated sites encompasses a several block area in Greenwich Village that was the location of a series of events, collectively known as Stonewall, that occurred between June 28 and July 3, 1969. Stonewall is regarded as the single most important event that led to the modern movement for gay and lesbian civil rights.

“The Stonewall Rebellion that began on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, is the watershed moment in the history of the modern gay and lesbian civil rights movement. Stonewall marked the first time that gays and lesbians as a group forcefully and vocally asserted their rights to equality under the law. The events of Stonewall opened the door for millions of gay and lesbian Americans to begin pressing for full and equal civil rights. Indeed, within a few short years of Stonewall, thousands of gay and lesbian civil rights organizations had sprung up all across America. This historic site, which is commemorated annually in thousands of parades and festivals around the world, must be recognized as a truly significant place in the history of the modern civil rights movement. In June 1999, the Stonewall Inn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its historic significance to gay and lesbian history.

The event was significant from the day it occurred – creating changes in gay people’s lives immediately. On the one-week anniversary, there was a gay march. On the first year anniversary, the first gay pride march was held in New York City, as well as in other cities. The name “Stonewall” has been used very widely – even internationally – to mark gay pride events. The 15th anniversary saw a post office commemoration of the event. An estimated crowd of more than 500,000 people participated in the 25th Anniversary Stonewall March in New York City.” At 30 years, in June of 1999, Stonewall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and then as a National Historic Landmark, recognizing the significance of the events that took place in 1969.” *

*Andrew Dolkart interview with Department of the Interior GLOBE.