The Mississippi Hospitality & Restaurant Association is creating an “Everyone’s Welcome Here” campaign to counter the negative fallout from a new law that opponents say would allow restaurant operators to deny service to lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender patrons.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Tuesday signed HB 1523, the “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” saying it reinforces First Amendment rights to religious freedom. The law is scheduled to go into effect in July.
Saying the law has thrust Mississippi into the national spotlight, Mike Cashion, MHRA executive director, said Friday that the organization would offer members, whom he acknowledged were on both sides of the issue, decals and other materials to make sure customers know they were welcome.
“Regardless of its intent, this legislation has created a level of controversy and public perception that affects the image of our state and the hospitality community,” Cashion said in an earlier statement. “And while we may not be able to manage the image and brand of the entire state, we can affect the image of our restaurants, hotels and other hospitality businesses.”
On Friday, in the midst of approving door decal logos and coordinating a new website, Cashion said in a phone interview that, “We wanted to send an immediate out to counter the negative messages that have been tagged to Mississippi about this legislation.”
MTA Statement on HB 1523:“The Mississippi Tourism Association recognizes that the intent of House Bill 1523 is to...
Posted by Mississippi Tourism Association on Thursday, April 7, 2016
MHRA members had expressed concern “about what we can lose from an economic standpoint,” Cashion said. “If we lose conventions, class reunions, family reunions or whatever, that could have a detrimental impact on the hospitality community.”
Cashion said the “Everyone’s Welcome Here” campaign would be open not only to MHRA members, “but to any business that wants to participate.” The full rollout of the campaign will be in late April, he said. The association has more than 700 members who represent more than 1,400 locations.
The impact from outside the state, especially on the tourism industry, was immediate, organizations said.
The Mississippi Tourism Association on Thursday posted on its Facebook page, saying it members statewide were reporting phone calls, emails and social media posts about people cancelling or postponing trips to the state because of the new law.
“Many of these tourists are known to our members personally because they are repeat guests, that have visited our state before, loved it, and have become regular visitors,” the tourism association said.
High-profile natives like singer-actor Lance Bass, a native of Laurel, Miss., expressed their disapproval of the law. Bass posted a satiric road sign photo on Twitter, saying "Entering Mississippi, please turn your clocks back 200 years."
Cashion said more than 160 businesses had signed a directory of “Everyone’s Welcome Here” in the 48 hours ended Friday afternoon.
Cashion acknowledged that MHRA members came down on both sides of the issue.
“Our position as far as this initiative goes is be apolitical,” he said. “This is more about protecting the industry, which is core to our mission statement.”
The campaign will be voluntary for members, he said, and the association is designing, printing and distributing the door decals.
The MHRA said it has 4,300 restaurants that employ more than 80,000 people. Restaurant sales are expected to exceed $3.2 billion in the state this year.
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