Residents and city officials in a Mississippi town can no longer discriminate against two Muslim men who wanted to build a mosque near their homes. A judge has decided the construction of the structure, which had previously been denied, must now move ahead. The decision comes two months after the American Civil Liberties Union filed an anti-discrimination lawsuit against the city on behalf of the two men.
Emily Wagster Pettus of The Associated Press reported on the lawsuit, which accused Horn Lake officials of being motivated by anti-Muslim prejudice when they rejected a zoning request for what would be the first mosque in DeSoto County.
According to Pettus, “Hours after the lawsuit was filed in early November, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills wrote that the suit presented ‘very serious, and if proven factually accurate, strong allegations of religious discrimination.’”
