New delay in state law on objection to gay marriage
Published 9:50 pm Wednesday, October 4, 2017
JACKSON (AP) — New court action has created a slight delay for a Mississippi law dealing with religious objections to gay marriage.
Opponents asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to keep blocking the law, which has been on hold more than a year. The court said it would not. The law was set to take effect Friday, but the decision delays the effective date until next Tuesday.
The law , signed Republican Gov. Phil Bryant in 2016, could allow government workers or private business people to cite their own religious beliefs to deny services to LGBT people.
Legal experts say it’s the broadest religious-objections law enacted by any state since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015.
Opponents will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to permanently block the Mississippi law.