Mark Formby | |
---|---|
Member of the MississippiHouseofRepresentatives from the 108th district | |
In office 1992–2017 | |
Succeeded by | Stacey Hobgood-Wilkes |
Personal details | |
Born | Starkville,Mississippi,U.S. | August 16,1956
Political party | Republican |
Mark S. Formby (born August 16,1956) is an American politician. He served as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives for the 108th district from 1992 to 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party. [1]
In 2016,House Bill 50 was proposed that "would allow educators to teach several theories about how the universe was created" and "allow teachers to answer questions from students about their personal beliefs". [2] [3] According to The Huffington Post:"The bill doesn't mention creationism by name but refers specifically to biological evolution,the chemical origins of life,global warming and human cloning." [4] Current law does not allow teachers to discuss their personal religious beliefs with students at school. [2]
In 2015,Sen. Formby introduced House Bill 130,legislation to allow parents to decline vaccination for their children if it is against their personal beliefs. The Jackson Free Press reports:"Mississippi and West Virginia are the only two states in the nation that do not allow for vaccine exemptions based on either religious or philosophical reasons." [5]
In 2017,Formby stepped down from the House to be the chairman of Mississippi Workers' Compensation.
The intelligent design movement has conducted an organized campaign largely in the United States that promotes a pseudoscientific,neo-creationist religious agenda calling for broad social,academic and political changes centering on intelligent design.
Dewey Phillip Bryant is an American politician who served as the 64th governor of Mississippi from 2012 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party,he was the 31st lieutenant governor of Mississippi from 2008 to 2012 and 40th state auditor of Mississippi from 1996 to 2008. Bryant was elected governor in 2011,defeating the Democratic nominee Mayor Johnny DuPree of Hattiesburg. He was re-elected in 2015,defeating Democratic nominee Robert Gray.
A number of anti-evolution bills have been introduced in the United States Congress and State legislatures since 2001. Purporting to support academic freedom,supporters have contended that teachers,students,and college professors face intimidation and retaliation when discussing scientific criticisms of evolution,and therefore require protection. Critics of the legislation have pointed out that there are no credible scientific critiques of evolution. An investigation in Florida of the allegations of intimidation and retaliation found no evidence that it had occurred. The vast majority of the bills have been unsuccessful,with the one exception being Louisiana's Louisiana Science Education Act,which was enacted in 2008.
Dennis K. Kruse is an American businessman and politician. Kruse was a founder of the auction business Kruse International before entered politics as a Republican. He was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives from 1989 to 2004 and the Indiana Senate from 2004 to 2022,representing Senate District 14.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Georgia enjoy most of the same rights as non-LGBTQ people. LGBTQ rights in the state have been a recent occurrence,with most improvements occurring from the 2010s onward. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 1998,although the state legislature has not repealed its sodomy law. Same-sex marriage has been legal in the state since 2015,in accordance with Obergefell v. Hodges. In addition,the state's largest city Atlanta,has a vibrant LGBTQ community and holds the biggest Pride parade in the Southeast. The state's hate crime laws,effective since June 26,2020,explicitly include sexual orientation.
John D. Ragan Jr. is an American politician. A Republican,he represents District 33 in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
The Louisiana Science Education Act,Act 473 (SB733) of 2008 is a controversial anti-evolution law passed by the Louisiana Legislature on June 11,2008 and signed into law by Governor Bobby Jindal on June 25. The act allows public school teachers to use supplemental materials in the science classroom which are critical of scientific theories such as evolution and global warming and to promote creationism as science. Louisiana was the first state to have passed a law of this type.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Mississippi face legal challenges and discrimination not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. LGBT rights in Mississippi are limited in comparison to other states. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Mississippi as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas. Same-sex marriage has been recognized since June 2015 in accordance with the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. State statutes do not address discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;however,the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County established that employment discrimination against LGBTQ people is illegal under federal law. The state capital Jackson and a number of other cities provide protections in housing and public accommodations as well.
StudentsFirst is a political lobbying organization formed in 2010 by Michelle Rhee,former school chancellor of Washington D.C. public schools,in support of education reform. The organization worked to pass state laws on issues such as expanding charter schools and teacher tenure reform. On March 29,2016,it announced some of its state chapters would merge with 50CAN,and its Sacramento headquarters would downsize.
"War on women" is a slogan in United States politics used to describe certain Republican Party policies and legislation as a wide-scale effort to restrict women's rights,especially reproductive rights,including abortion. Prominent Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer,as well as feminists,have used the phrase to criticize proponents of these laws as trying to force their social views on women through legislation. The slogan has been used to describe Republican policies in areas such as access to reproductive health services,particularly birth control and abortion services;the definition of rape for the purpose of the public funding of abortion;the prosecution of criminal violence against women;and workplace discrimination against women.
Ron Kresha is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2013. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota,Kresha represents District 10A in north-central Minnesota,which includes the city of Little Falls and parts of Aitkin,Crow Wing,Kanabec,Mille Lacs and Morrison Counties.
State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts are state laws based on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA),a federal law that was passed almost unanimously by the U.S. Congress in 1993 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The laws mandate that religious liberty of individuals can only be limited by the "least restrictive means of furthering a compelling government interest". Originally,the federal law was intended to apply to federal,state,and local governments. In 1997,the U.S. Supreme Court in City of Boerne v. Flores held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act only applies to the federal government but not states and other local municipalities within them. As a result,21 states have passed their own RFRAs that apply to their individual state and local governments.
Arkansas HB 1228,also known as the Conscience Protection Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,is a law in the state of Arkansas that aims to increase "judicial scrutiny" in cases involving religious beliefs. Opponents of the law say that it will allow for lawful discrimination of LGBT people. The law was passed by the Arkansas Senate on March 31,2015. The next day,Governor Asa Hutchinson announced he would not sign the bill as written,instructing the legislature to make changes to its language. The final version was passed and signed into law as Act 975.
Jon Koznick is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2015. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota,Koznick represents District 57A in the southern Twin Cities metropolitan area,which includes the city of Lakeville and parts of Dakota and Scott Counties.
In the United States,a religious freedom bill is a bill that,according to its proponents,allows those with religious objections to oppose LGBT rights in accordance with traditional religious teachings without being punished by the government for doing so. This typically concerns an employee who objects to abortion,euthanasia,same-sex marriage,civil unions,or transgender identity and wishes to avoid situations where they will be expected to put those objections aside. Proponents commonly refer to such proposals as religious liberty or conscience protection.
Mississippi House Bill 1523, also called the Religious Liberty Accommodations Act or Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,is 2016 state legislation passed in direct response to federal rulings in support of same-sex marriage. MS H.B. 1523 provides protections for persons,religious organizations,and private associations who choose to provide or withhold services discriminatorily in accordance to the three "deeply held religious beliefs or moral convictions" which are specifically outlined in the bill. These protected beliefs are 1) that marriage is and should be an exclusively heterosexual union,2) sex should not occur outside of marriage,and 3) that biologically-assigned sex is objective and immutably linked to gender.
A bathroom bill is the common name for legislation or a statute that denies access to public toilets by gender or transgender identity. Bathroom bills affect access to sex-segregated public facilities for an individual based on a determination of their sex as defined in some specific way,such as their sex as assigned at birth,their sex as listed on their birth certificate,or the sex that corresponds to their gender identity. A bathroom bill can either be inclusive or exclusive of transgender individuals,depending on the aforementioned definition of their sex.
Venden "Vince" Leach is an American politician from Arizona. A Republican,he was a member of the Arizona State Senate from 2019 to 2023,representing District 11. From 2015 to 2019,he was a member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing District 11. Leach won the race for Arizona state senate from Legislative District 17 in the 2024 Arizona Senate election.
Freedom of religion in Australia is allowed in practice and protected to varying degrees through the constitution and legislation at the Federal,state and territory level. Australia is a pluralist country with legislated principle of state neutrality and with no state religion. The nation has over 13.6 million people who identify as religious and over 9.8 million who identify with no religion.
Ashley Henley was an American teacher and politician from Southaven,Mississippi,who served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from the 40th district from 2016 to 2020. She was a member of the Republican Party.