As expected, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Tuesday signed a controversial and bigoted “religious freedom” law that opponents say sanctions widespread discrimination.

Bryant’s stamp of approval, the ACLU said, gives Mississippi the “dubious distinction of being the first state to codify discrimination based on a religious belief or moral conviction that members of the LGBTQ community do not matter.”

“Far from protecting anyone from ‘government discrimination’ as the bill claims, it is an attack on the citizens of our state, and it will serve as the Magnolia State’s badge of shame.”
—Jennifer Riley-Collins, ACLU of Mississippi

“This is a sad day for the state of Mississippi and for the thousands of Mississippians who can now be turned away from businesses, refused marriage licenses, or denied housing, essential services, and needed care based on who they are,” said Jennifer Riley-Collins, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi.

“This bill flies in the face of the basic American principles of fairness, justice, and equality and will not protect anyone’s religious liberty,” she said. “Far from protecting anyone from ‘government discrimination’ as the bill claims, it is an attack on the citizens of our state, and it will serve as the Magnolia State’s badge of shame.”

On Twitter, the state LGBTQ organization, Unity Mississippi, warned: “Expect travel bans from other states/cities. Expect boycotts. The consequences are real. They will become evident.”

Such consequences are already becoming evident in North Carolina, which recently enacted a bill saying transgender people must use public bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates, among other measures.

PayPal on Tuesday became the latest company to take a stand against North Carolina’s law, cancelling plans for a new global operations center in Charlotte, where the company would have employed more than 400 people.

“The new law perpetuates discrimination, and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture,” chief executive Dan Schulman said in a statement Tuesday. “As a result, PayPal will not move forward with our planned expansion into Charlotte.”

In a letter on March 29, founders and chief executives of more than a hundred companies, including Apple, Twitter, and Google-parent Alphabet urged North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory to repeal the legislation.

The Charlotte Observer reported Monday that the Santa Monica, California-based studio Lionsgate was “pulling production for a new Hulu show that was supposed to be filmed in Charlotte,” also citing the regressive law.

Similar fallout is likely to hit Mississippi.