Missouri Governor condemns religious liberty bill

by Austin Stallings
Journalism Intern

MISSOURI – Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has condemned a republican-led effort to provide exemptions to business owners who may disagree with same sex marriage on religious liberties.

Nixon denounced the joint resolution, saying it "hijacked" plans to pass a series of ethics reforms.

The amendment puts "the nation's eyes on us...about whether we want to put discrimination in our Constitution after the Supreme Court has already ruled on the majority of these issues."

"We started out with a cavalcade of speeches and press releases and bills...all this `No. 1 priority, No. 1 priority, gotta get this stuff done,'" he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Nobody talked about ethics reform this week."

The joint resolution put Missouri in the spotlight last week as Democrats filibustered the amendment for nearly 40 hours before Republicans advanced it to the House. In summary, SJR 39 ensures that anyone who opposes same-sex marriage can refuse service to a same-sex couple.

Monsanto and Dow Chemical are just a few of the numerous businesses that have opposed the measure; the NCAA which is set to begin its March Madness tournament is St. Louis later this month has yet to take a position. "We're looking into this," a spokesperson said on Monday. Pressure from the NCAA helped elevate the national debate on Indiana's pro-discrimination religious liberty last year.

Missouri has not yet scheduled debate on SJR 39.

The Gayly - 3/15/2016 @ 3:10 p.m. CST