“I cannot in good conscience perform in a State where certain people are being denied their civil rights due to their sexual orientation.”
Bryan Adams cancelled a concert in Mississippi over the state's new law that lets businesses discriminate against LGBT people on religious grounds.
Republican Governor Phil Bryant signed the "religious liberty bill" into law last week and it comes into effect on July 1. It will allow individuals, businesses, and religious groups to deny services to LGBT people for "sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions."
The law specifically lists the following as protected beliefs:
- that marriage is only valid as the union of one man and one woman;
- that sex is only proper within a marriage;
- and that a person's gender is "immutable" and the same as their sex as assigned at birth.
Mike Ridewood / Reuters
Adams announced he was cancelling his April 14 concert in Biloxi because of the passage of Bill 1523. "I find it incomprehensible that LGBT citizens are being discriminated against in the state of Mississippi."
Writing on his Facebook page, Adams said he was pushing for the repeal of the law so he "can come back and perform for all of my many fans" in Mississippi.