The discrimination-enabling bill we discussed last Friday has been signed by Governor Phil Bryant who says the bill "merely reinforces the rights which currently exist" but that couldn't be any further from the truth.
“This bill does not limit any constitutionally protected rights or actions of any citizen of this state under federal or state laws,” Bryant claimed in a statement. “The legislation is designed in the most targeted manner possible to prevent government interference in the lives of the people from which all power to the state is derived.”
The governor's assertion that the legislation is designed in the "most targeted manner possible" is really quite amazing.
This so-called "religious liberty" bill is worded so broadly that it would even enable discrimination against unwed straight couples. The bill states that "sexual relations are properly reserved" to marriage between a man and a woman.
"Government interference in the lives of people" is exactly what this bill is intended to enable. The only way the governor's statement seems true is if you believe a government or private employee refusing service to a gay or unwed couple does not interfere with their lives.
It's liberty for me, not for thee.