Civil and Human Rights Coalition Condemns Mississippi Discrimination Law

WASHINGTON - April 5, 2016 – Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed a bill that to allow discrimination against LGBT people on religious grounds. The Leadership Conference Education Fund recently issued a report called "Striking A Balance: Advancing Civil and Human Rights While Preserving Religious Liberty" that documents how religious arguments are used to deny civil and human rights to people of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, and LGBT people:

"Today, Governor Bryant turned back the clock to a dark time in Mississippi's past. 

Religious liberty is meant to be a sacred shield to protect people from discrimination, not a sword to deny civil rights and equality to others. These are the same arguments used to oppose women's suffrage, interracial marriage, the acceptance of Asian immigrants, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the abolition of slavery—today they are being used against the LGBT community.

There's no place for a measure like this if Mississippi aspires to move past its legacy of discrimination."

Wade Henderson is president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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