The Latest: Mississippi governor slams ACLU over lawsuit

JACKSON, Miss. – The Latest on a federal lawsuit over a Mississippi religious objections law (all times local):

1:58 p.m.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is criticizing the American Civil Liberties Union over the group’s federal lawsuit that seeks to block a law that will let workers cite their own religious objections to same-sex marriage to deny services to people.

Republican Bryant signed House Bill 1523 in early April. It was filed in response to last summer’s Supreme Court ruling that effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

The ACLU and a gay couple from Meridian sued the state Monday, seeking to block the bill from becoming law July 1.

Bryant says the ACLU is “trying to use the federal court system to push its liberal agenda.” He also says the group is “cherry-picking causes popular with the radical left.”

The ACLU says the law treats the marriages of same-sex couples as “second-tier.”

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10:26 a.m.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi is suing the state over a law that will allow workers to cite their own religious objections to same-sex marriage to deny services to people.

The suit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Jackson.

House Bill 1523 (http://bit.ly/1Mq4DyE ), passed by the Republican-majority Legislature and signed by GOP Gov. Phil Bryant, is set to become law July 1.

It was filed in response to last summer’s Supreme Court ruling that effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

Supporters say the law will protect people’s religious belief that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Opponents say it violates the equal-protection guarantee of the Constitution.