Mississippi has just passed a religious freedom law that allows people to discriminate based on their religious beliefs, and quite frankly I am terrified.

The recently signed law promises that “the state government will not punish people who refuse to provide services to people because of a religious opposition to same-sex marriage, extramarital sex or transgender people.” What this means is that the state is sanctioning and supporting open discrimination.

I spent some of the best years of my life living in the south. As a small child it seemed to me like it was a magical land. I was allowed to run around the woods all day. There were boulders to jump off of and beaches to visit. Sometimes I would get lucky and find a turtle to take home to show my mom.

When we moved, there was a part of me that always held on to that darling place. I wondered if I would ever move back, and live my life there as a grown up (which at the time felt like another lifetime away). I grew up in liberal southern California, came out as gay, and moved all the way to the midwest to start my life as an adult.

Once I started College of Dupage, I began thinking of all the great schools I could transfer to in a couple of years. To no one’s surprise, I fell in love with one school in particular that is gently tucked away in the rolling hills of the deep south. So you can imagine my disappointment when this law was passed and I was basically told I’m no longer welcome there.

The thing one must realize about this law is that it is a law protecting hateful discrimination that is hiding behind “religious beliefs.” I completely understand that people may feel differently than me about things. I understand that some people believe that I shouldn’t be allowed to get married. While that might hurt me, it’s a fact of the world and no amount of social justice is going to change the fact that some people feel that way. The problem is that the state government is actively telling people that it’s okay to act on these feelings of hate in a very public and very aggressive way.

What many people don’t realize about this law is that is specifically targets lgbt people. The legislation only protects 3 religious beliefs. The first being that marriage is between a man and a woman, the second that sex is “properly reserved to such a marriage,” and the third stating that gender, and words like “male” or “female” are “objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at birth.”

Furthermore, this religious freedom bill only protects those who follow Christianity. There is no religious freedom for Hindus or for Buddhists, or anyone who in their eyes are “different.”

This bill is blatantly discriminatory and the fact that it was able to become a law is one of the most terrifying things that has happened so far in 2016. It makes it seem as though we as a country are moving backwards, and perhaps we are. We cannot accept that, though.

So what can we do? We can bombard the state of Mississippi with protests. We can help with the growth of the US by reaching out to people from all walks of life and educating them on sexuality and gender, perhaps even adding them to sexual education courses taught in schools.

We cannot stop the good fight, the uphill battle towards total equality for everyone. It might not be something we see happening immediately, we may not even see it in our lifetime. That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s not worth the fight. Just because I might be a little different than you doesn’t mean I don’t deserve rights too.