US: First ever Mississippi mayor to support equal marriage to retire
The first ever mayor in the US state of Mississippi to declared his support for same-sex marriage is to retire at the end of his term.
Waveland Mayor David Garcia, signed up to Freedom to Marry’s list of mayors in support of same-sex marriage recently, becoming the first Mississippi mayor to do so.
“After 40 years of public service, it is with a great deal of thought and deliberation amongst family and friends that I have made the decision to retire at the conclusion of my term as mayor of Waveland,” Garcia said in a statement.
The group is an initiative of Freedom to Marry, a national same-sex marriage advocacy group, and has hundreds of mayors signed up.
A Mississippi law that legalises anti-gay discrimination on the grounds of ‘religious freedom’ came info effect at the beginning of this month. Mississippi passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in April, which legalises discrimination against gay and lesbian people based on religious beliefs.
Equality Mississippi are resisting the law by distributing window stickers for businesses saying: “We don’t discriminate – If you’re buying, we’re selling!”.
