Mississippi College Law Review
Publication Date
Spring 2024
Abstract
The United States Supreme Court's revolutionary ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which guaranteed marriage equality for homosexual couples in every state, gave life to a new challenge in the area of free exercise of religion: to what extent should persons with religious objections to same-sex marriages be forced to participate in them? Should a Christian baker be legally required to bake a wedding cake for a homosexual marriage to which he or she objects? Must a county clerk with religious objections to homosexual marriage sign a marriage license for a same-sex couple?
In an attempt to pre-empt these types of issues, Mississippi's legislature passed House Bill 1523 which protects three "sincerely held religious beliefs." The bill extends protections to those who hold the belief that: "(a) Marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman; (b) Sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage; and (c) Male (man) or female (woman) refer to an individual's immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth."
Recommended Citation
Roberts, Lindsay Krout
(2024)
"Protecting "Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs": Lessons From Mississippi HB 1523,"
Mississippi College Law Review: Vol. 36:
Iss.
3, Article 9.
Available at:
https://dc.law.mc.edu/lawreview/vol36/iss3/9
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