LGBT Jackson, Mississippi residents were turned away as they gathered to rally and march yesterday morning despite having applied for a permit to highlight LGBT discrimination. 

Organizers of the march were informed shortly before the event that their permit had been denied and they had no right to rally in the city.

Bob Gilchrist, who had organized the event on Facebook, expected a large turnout for the march and rally and at the last minute the permit was denied even though event organizers were finalizing details to secure required liability insurance. When informed by police that the permit had been denied, those assembled were threatened with arrest if they were to proceed.

Robin McGehee, GetEQUAL’s executive director and a Jackson, Mississippi native stated:

As a Mississippian forced to flee my home state to seek equality elsewhere, this decision by the Jackson police is reprehensible. Despite Mississippi’s long history of racial, gender, and economic discrimination, the state continues to use deceptive tactics like insurance requirements to prevent people from simply walking down the street as openly gay. You would think that Mississippi would have learned its lesson and would try to shake off the chains of its discriminatory past, but this action by Jackson police will simply cement the state’s reputation as the leader of bigotry and discrimination.”

McGee has a point tht history bears out.  On May 24, 1961, during the African-American Civil Rights Movement, more than 300 Freedom Riders were arrested in Jackson for disturbing the peace after they disembarked from their bus. They were riding the bus to demonstrate against segregation on public transportation.

So how far has Jackson, Mississippi evovled since 1961? 

Obviously not that much.

Source: Addicting Info