The core of the motion is the section of the law that allows clerks to refuse marriage licenses to identical-sex couples. House Bill 1523 would require any clerk to recuse themselves in order to make sure they don’t “impede or delay” such marriages. However, plaintiffs claim this is impossible. Roberta Kaplan (lead attorney in the lawsuit) stated that they want to ensure that 1523’s provision that allows clerks not to marry gay people has no impact on gay couples being able to marry. Gov. Phil Bryant signed the “religious liberty” law last month. It protects three religious beliefs that the state considers important: one man and one lady are married; people shouldn’t have sex with anyone else; and that a person is born gendered. Anyone who rejects the services of gays, lesbians, and transgender people because they believe in these beliefs is protected from lawsuit. The governor didn’t respond to any requests for comment regarding the motion. Judge Carlton Reeves overturned the Mississippi section that prohibited the marriage of couples of the same gender in 2014. In Obergefell, v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed this ruling. This decision legalized same-sex marriage across the country. Tuesday’s motion names the governor, the state attorney general, and the former Hinds County circuit judge as defendants. It challenges the constitutionality and legality of House Bill 15.23. The motion claims that allowing Mississippi officials the right to withdraw from issuing marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples in violation Reeves’s earlier decision. Kaplan stated, “We believe that there is one thing the Constitution and the Supreme Court have made clear: we cannot have segregated marriages for gay couples in any part of the country, even Mississippi.” “And Judge Reeves’s first ruling in this case reflected that opinion very clearly and strongly. We’re now trying put in place steps to ensure that that doesn’t occur and that the Mississippi marriages of gay or lesbian couples go through and are treated as every other’s.” The Campaign for Southern Equality also named the plaintiffs, which include the now-married couple Rebecca Bickett, Andrea Sanders, Jocelyn Pritchett, and Carla Webb. All of them were involved in the 2014 litigation. The law requires that the state registrar keep a list all state officials who have resigned. The law doesn’t require that this list be made public. However, Campaign for Southern Equality asked the court for the addition of the state registrar to the fourth defendant. He was not part of the 2014 litigation. According to the statute, she is the one who will have the information. Kaplan stated that there is no other way to find out if other clerks have resigned. It’s insane that we have to continue to file public information requests every week. We could also send two people to each Mississippi county clerk’s office and see what happens. However, that argument is not convincing. Campaign for Southern Equality argues that the state officials who are not on the list will be unable to publicly disclose it. This would likely “impede or delay” gay marriages. They are asking the court to amend Reeves’s 2014 injunction by adding two new requirements. The registrar must make the list of those who have recused public, and these clerks must provide written explanations of the steps they took to ensure that their recusal doesn’t “impede” or delay the licensing of same-sex marriages. Josh Kaye, an attorney in the case, stated that they have moved from a hollow law statement where there is no enforcement of this idea to one where if (the clerks), ‘impede/delay’ a marriage, they are violating an injunction. The American Civil Liberties Union filed Monday’s first lawsuit against House Bill 15.23. Their lawsuit goes further, arguing that the law segregates gays and lesbians in Mississippi into a “second-class.” Judge Daniel Jordan will rule in favor of the suit. Oliver Diaz, lead attorney on the case, stated that he hopes that the entire “religious liberty” law will be overturned. Diaz stated that he believes there will be many challenges to the law over the next few weeks. It’s something that the state created. Many people are being hurt by 1523. I believe you’re going see a lot more lawsuits.” The Campaign for Southern Equality’s narrower approach means that Judge Reeves would only uphold the section of the law that deals with county clerks’ rights to withdraw from the marriage of same-sex couples. Kaplan stated that she anticipates more challenges to the “religious liberty” law. Kaplan stated that 1523 is full of Constitutional violations and that this is the motion only she is seeking to bring at this point. “We do not seek to prevent any further challenges to the law.”_x000D