Faced with the threat of a federal lawsuit, Mississippi officials have relented on a ban on same-sex commitment ceremonies at a state-owned museum, and are processing a permit for two women, the Hattiesburg American website reports today (August 12, 2012).
The Southern Poverty Law Center sent a letter to the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson on July 12, threatening to sue if officials did not allow Ceara Sturgis, 20, and her partner, Emily Key, 19, to hold a ceremony there this fall.
Republican Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith said in a statement that same-sex ceremonies are against her religious and personal beliefs, but there's nothing in state law to prohibit them.
She added that the museum is processing the permit application, but there are several steps and it hasn't been finalized.
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