LGBT ally Sharon Stone stands on ‘Principle’ when it comes to Mississippi’s anti-gay law

Sharon Stone’s short film The Principle will not be shot in Mississippi after all.

The Oscar-nominated star of such films as Casino, Basic Instinct and Total Recall was set to begin production in June on the $300,000 cyber-bullying film.

But the longtime LGBTI ally and AIDS activist said in a statement today: ‘I will not work in any state that holds or is actively creating laws to legally support discrimination against American citizens whether due to their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, nor where those laws are passed or approved by the government of said state.’

The bill, known as the ‘Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,’ passed the State Senate last month by a vote of 31-17 after just over two hours.

Unswayed by the backlash over similar bills in North Carolina and Georgia, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed it into law on April 5.

HB 1523 is considered by LGBTI activists to be the worst of the anti-gay bills currently under consideration by state legislatures in the US.

It legally protects religious institutions should they decide to not recognize the legality of same-sex marriages or refuse to place children with qualified, deserving LGBTI families.

It also protects state employees if they refuse to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple and sanctions the use of ‘conversion therapy’ to ‘cure’ LGBTI people.