Mississippi church a window into national gay rights debate
BRANDON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi’s conservative Republican governor, Phil Bryant, often spends his Sunday mornings at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in suburban Jackson.
The same can be said for Jan Smith and Donna Phillips, a same-sex couple who have a 9-year-old daughter named Hannah.
Considering recent events in Mississippi, that might seem strange.
The couple has fought Mississippi’s ban on gay adoptions while Bryant has opposed same-sex marriage and recently signed a bill allowing government workers, religious groups and some private businesses to cite deeply held religious beliefs to deny services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
The juxtaposition of beliefs at this church in the Deep South is a window into a debate in much of the U.S. that sometimes puts friends, neighbors and even fellow church members at odds.
