Mississippi is one of 27 states that currently has a constitutional ban on gay marriage (this may change after Tuesday). The ban can be found in Art. 14, Sec. 263-A of the constitution and reads as follows:
"Section 263-A. Marriage defined as only between a man and a woman.
Marriage may take place and may be valid under the laws of this State only between a man and a woman. A marriage in another state or foreign jurisdiction between persons of the same gender, regardless of when the marriage took place, may not be recognized in this State and is void and unenforceable under the laws of this State."
This is pretty standard language for this type of constitutional amendment as far as forbidding both entering into such unions within the state and/or recognizing such a union entered into outside of the state. Interestingly, unlike some other states, it does not contain an express provision banning non-marriage unions between same-sex individuals.
What is telling however, is not its language but its location within the constitution. It appears after Section 263, which was repealed in 1987. Section 263 read:
"The marriage of a white person with a negro or mulatto or person who shall have one-eighth or more of negro blood, shall be unlawful." [taken from Moreau v. Grandich]
That's right. The gay marriage amendment took the place of a repealed ban on interracial marriage. Like gay marriage, some used religious language to justify a ban on interracial marriage. From the famous Loving v. Virginia case:
"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."
Right now a commercial is airing in California about ending the American legacy of discrimination. More than that ad, the Mississippi Constitution gives us a direct line between the discrimination of yesterday and the discrimination of today.
No on H8.