Michelle Obama slammed Mississippi's anti-LGBT law in her commencement speech

Michelle Obama
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

First Lady Michelle Obama delivered a politically charged commencement speech Saturday at Jackson State University. She criticized the anti-LGBT law recently passed in Mississippi, which purports to protect religious freedom by allowing businesses to refuse service to same-sex couples.

"We see it right here in Mississippi — just two weeks ago — how swiftly progress can hurtle backward," ABC News reports Obama said. "How easy it is to single out a small group and marginalize them because of who they are or who they love."

President Obama also recently spoke out against the anti-LGBT law, as well as a similar one passed in North Carolina.

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.