Miss. Guv: Who Cares What ‘1980s Rocker’ Thinks About Anti-LGBT Law?

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant delivers his first State of the State address Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 on the steps of the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Bryant used the address to unveil detailed policy proposals, from educat... Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant delivers his first State of the State address Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 on the steps of the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Bryant used the address to unveil detailed policy proposals, from education to health care to energy, saying he wants to create a "Mississippi Works Agenda." (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) MORE LESS

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Wednesday dismissed criticism of the state’s new “religious freedom” law from Canadian musician Bryan Adams, who canceled a show in the state over the law that allows businesses to deny services to LGBT people.

“All of a sudden we have one guy from the 1980s that canceled a concert and we all want to talk about that. It is interesting, the media says ‘Y’all ought to be dealing with all these important issues and not some issue about someone’s deeply held religious beliefs,'” Bryant told Jackson, Mississippi, television station WAPT.

He suggested that Adams only canceled his show for attention.

“I often wonder if people aren’t taking advantage of that type of thing. You haven’t been heard from in a long time, maybe you’re dropping out of the entertainment business and all of a sudden you think it’s a pretty good way of getting attention,” Bryant said.

The governor argued that the law is not discriminatory, comparing it to a religious freedom law in New York.

“It simply says the government cannot discriminate against people of faith or religious organizations, which is the same law — if I can get anyone to look at that – that Gov. Cuomo signed into law in New York in 2011,” he said.

Though, Bryant acknowledged that the Mississippi law is “expanded to people who have deeply held religious beliefs, only in the area of marriage.”

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  1. Well he’s a lot more current the the rash of politicians we have who seem to hearken from the 1950s.

  2. Apparently, Pearl Jam and the NBA and Google and Bayer and PayPal and Mercedes and all the other businesses thinking about establishing a presence in North Carolina but told McRory to take a hike do,

  3. Avatar for jsfox jsfox says:

    You are confusing Mississippi and North Carolina

  4. Cuts like a knife, doesn’t it Governor?

  5. Well Phil…maybe in Mississippi you don’t ‘care’ what people think but don’t try to push the ol’ religious freedom horsepucky while lying to our faces. Somehow the sanctimonious garbage you spew just doesn’t fly…

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