A federal judge in Mississippi struck down the state's Freedom of Conscience Act which permitted clerks to decline issuing same-sex marriage licenses because of their religious beliefs.
The judge said that the religious convictions of the district clerks will not be accommodated, and they will have to issue the licenses irrespective of their religious principles.
In April, Mississippi governor Phil Bryant signed the bill (HB 1523) into law which said:
"The sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions protected by this act are the belief or conviction that: marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman; sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage; and male (man) or female (woman) refer to an individual's immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth."
"This bill does not limit any constitutionally protected rights or actions of any citizens of this state under federal or state laws. 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," Bryant had said while signing the bill.
It gave immunity to clerks and businesses from lawsuits if they were sued for declining marriage-related services to same-sex couples because of their religious convictions.
The bill was introduced in response to a series of litigations against Christians over refusing services to gay people because of their religious beliefs, particularly those relating to marriage, after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in the U.S.
On Monday, the federal district court only struck down a portion of the law from Section 3 (a) which dealt with marriage, and did not rule on other parts of the law, including businesses' rights to hire or terminate employees, and sell or rent properties based on religious convictions. However, on Thursday, the court struck down the law in its entirety.
The judge called the law discriminatory, and that the law contradicted the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell vs. Hodges, legalizing gay marriage.
"Having reviewed the relevant section of HB 1523, the parties' arguments, and the scope of the Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell, the Court finds that (Section) 3(8)(a) may in fact amend Mississippi's marriage licensing regime in such a way as to conflict with Obergefell," said U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves.
"There are almost endless explanations for how HB 1523 condones discrimination against the LGBT community, but in its simplest terms it denies LGBT citizens equal protection under the law," Reeves added regarding the decision on Thursday.
All 82 circuit clerks in Mississippi will be given a formal notice of the new rule.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had filed a lawsuit against the law on behalf of two homosexual men Stephen Thomas and Nykolas Alford who wanted to marry.
"H.B. 1523 has no rightful place in Mississippi or in our history books, and we're hopeful this lawsuit can stop as much of it as possible before it goes into effect," said Josh Block, ACLU attorney.
Reeves had earlier overturned the state's ban of same-sex marriage and is expected to soon rule on two other lawsuits over legislation concerning bathroom policies.
