--- description: Businesses, social workers and public employees cannot be punished for denying services title: Mississippi Senate Passes Sweeping Bill Called Anti-LGBT image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc62702abc28b7a7/69888d41f887dcf23ae95474/mississippi-religious-freedom-lgbt.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Mississippi Senate Passes Sweeping Bill Called Anti-LGBT by [Jacquellena Carrero / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Jacquellena Carrero / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 31, 2016 9:37 PM CUT  Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (R), the city's first openly gay mayor, raises a rainbow Pride Flag over the Civic Plaza on June 26, 2015 in Long Beach, California. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right marry in all 50 states. Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (R), the city's first openly gay mayor, raises a rainbow Pride Flag over the Civic Plaza on June 26, 2015 in Long Beach, California. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right marry in all 50 states.Rick Loomis—LA Times/Getty Images by [Jacquellena Carrero / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Jacquellena Carrero / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 31, 2016 9:37 PM CUT The Mississippi Senate voted Wednesday evening to pass a religious freedom bill which some say could have sweeping anti-LGBT repercussions for the United States. The Republican-dominated Senate voted 31-17 to pass the controversial bill, called the “Protecting Freedom of Conscience From Government Discrimination Act.” The [legislation says](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2016/pdf/HB/1500-1599/HB1523IN.pdf "undefined") that businesses, social workers and public employees cannot be punished for denying services based on the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman or that “sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage.” It also protects individuals who believe gender is determined at birth. [_Read the rest of this story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mississippi-senate-passes-sweeping-religious-liberty-bill-n548601?cid=par-time%5F20160331 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4278616/mississippi-lgbt-religious-bill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4278616/mississippi-lgbt-religious-bill/"},"headline":"Mississippi Senate Passes Sweeping Bill Called Anti-LGBT","datePublished":"2016-03-31T21:37:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:23:35.177Z","description":"Businesses, social workers and public employees cannot be punished for denying services based on their beliefs","url":"https://time.com/4278616/mississippi-lgbt-religious-bill/","keywords":["Mississippi","Religion","LGBT","Courts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc62702abc28b7a7/69888d41f887dcf23ae95474/mississippi-religious-freedom-lgbt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jacquellena Carrero / NBC News"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc62702abc28b7a7/69888d41f887dcf23ae95474/mississippi-religious-freedom-lgbt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Supreme Court Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage","caption":"Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (R), the city's first openly gay mayor, raises a rainbow Pride Flag over the Civic Plaza on June 26, 2015 in Long Beach, California. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right marry in all 50 states.","creditText":"Rick Loomis—LA Times/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4278616/mississippi-lgbt-religious-bill/","name":"Mississippi Senate Passes Sweeping Bill Called Anti-LGBT"}}]}] ```