House Bill 1523, known as the Religious Liberty Accommodations Act, has generated a firestorm of criticism aimed at Mississippi, some claiming the bill is the country’s harshest and most sweeping anti-LGBT legislation to date.

The Mississippi Senate this week followed the House in passing the legislation. The House on Friday sent the bill to Gov. Phil Bryant, who has spoken in favor of such legislation in the past, and is expected to sign it nto law.

Two of Vicksburg’s representatives in the state legislature — state Sen. Briggs Hopson and state Rep. Alex Monsour, both Republicans — disagree that the bill provides a legal avenue for discrimination.

Monsour and Hopson voted in favor of the bill. However, Hopson said the decision was one of the toughest, if not the toughest, of his career as a legislator.

“It was not a fun measure to vote on,” Hopson said. “Either way you look at it, someone has a reason to gripe at you for your vote. When you try to balance your religious freedom versus the right of someone not to be discriminated against, I understand both sides. But our first amendment rights are so critical. They are our foundation. People should be able to uphold their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

State Rep. Oscar Denton, D-Vicksburg, voted against the measure and said he is disgusted by it.

“I am against any form of discrimination. As an African American male, I have experienced discrimination in my lifetime and probably will experience it some more. This bill gives you the right to tell someone you cannot wait on them because of your religious belief. That’s going way beyond what we should do. It’s so outrageous to me. It burns me up,” Denton said. “I am really disgusted with this session. That’s just one of the crazy bills that we have approved that is really just setting Mississippi backwards.”

Denton said discussion in the house included the recent veto of a similar measure by Georgia’s governor.

“That bill was similar to ours, and we saw what Georgia went through and that the governor decided to veto it. Why are we going forward with this bill, which will probably end up in litigation for our state? But they (Republicans) have the majority, so this is where we are at,” Denton said.

Monsour said those who are criticizing the bill haven’t read it and apparently don’t understand it.

“It is a religious protection bill,” Monsour said. “It’s not discriminating toward anybody. It’s not preventing anybody from getting married. It’s not discriminating toward anybody.

“I’ve got friends of mine who are gay and I do not treat them any differently than any other person. But a person should not have their business threatened or be financially destroyed because they want to follow their religious beliefs. This bill protects those individuals. Nowhere in it is any discrimination. There have been instances across the country where people have been financially devastated because they were following their religious beliefs. This bill protects them from any government entity coming in there and hurting them. It gives protection to everybody,” Monsour said. “All I can say is I suggest that people actually take the bill and read it and not go by speculation outside of Mississippi. It just gives protection to everybody.”

Hopson agrees.

“I think people have misconstrued this bill. There’s nothing in it that would prevent homosexual couples from getting married. A lot of people are saying it gives the right to discriminate against homosexuals. It’s being construed that way, but that’s not accurate,” Hopson said.

Nonetheless, Hopson said he is concerned about the negative consequences the perception of the bill could mean for Mississippi.

“As someone who wants to see Mississippi prosper and grow, I’m sorry about that. I’m aware of what could be the negative effect of this legislation. But the fundamental right of people to be able to express their religious belief is more important and that is a paramount right in America.”