Melissa Harris-Perry Calls Out Mississippi Governor For Signing Law That Helps 'Bigots'

MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry called out the governor of Mississippi on Saturday for signing legislation that may protect business owners' ability to discriminate against LGBT customers.

Governor Phil Bryant (R) signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act earlier this week, which says that the state cannot infringe on people's rights to practice their religion. In an on-air statement addressed to Bryant, Harris-Perry echoed the warnings of the law's critics, who have said that the new legislation will allow people to discriminate against LGBT people based on religious beliefs.

The MSNBC host pointed out that LGBT rights have already been under assault in Mississippi. Same-sex marriage is illegal there, and gay people can be legally fired or not hired due to their sexual orientation. Mississippi is also one of 29 states in the country where LGBT people can be evicted on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

"What you did was to make it even easier than it already was to discriminate against LGBT Mississippians, to deny them services available to everyone else," said Harris-Perry. "Basically, you gave bigots another avenue to dehumanize their LGBT neighbors."

Watch her comments in the video above.