PHOTO: A protest against Mississippi’s Religious Freedom Bill


I joined BBC WM on Sunday morning to discuss the “Religious Freedom Bills” proposed in some states, allowing businesses and governments to deny public services to people on the ground of religious belief.

The legislation was spurred by the Supreme Court’s decision last year legalizing same-sex marriage, but it is also being used to justify restriction of transgender rights. Businesses such as PayPal are pulling out of projects and musicians, including Bruce Springsteen and Bryan Adams, are cancelling appearances in states which have adopted or are considering the bills.

Listen from 9:13, with interview from 10:58

America for a generation has been polarized in a paradox — even as we made great progress on sexuality, on ethnicity, on issues like religious diversity, political culture has become increasingly coarse and divisive. “We don’t like them. We are suspicious of them. They are not as good as us.”

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But there is hope, I argue:

In not just the South but other areas, we are beyond using religion to put down civil rights, such as those of African-Americans. There are people of many faiths who accept gays and lesbians as being equals, as not being “different”.