Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant

Mike Blake / Reuters

WASHINGTON — A federal judge halted the anti-LGBT law passed in Mississippi earlier this year from going into effect — moments before it was due to do so.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed the law, known as HB 1523, into effect on April 5. The bill provided protections individuals, religious organizations, and certain businesses who take actions due to their "sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions" to same-sex marriage — or any sex outside straight marriage. It also provided similar protections for those who object to transgender people.

It quickly faced several challenges, all of which were consolidated to be heard by U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves. He heard arguments a week ago on a request to enjoin the law — or halt it from going into effect.

The ruling was issued later Thursday night, moments before the law would have gone into effect at 12:01a Friday.

"HB 1523 grants special rights to citizens who hold one of three 'sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions' reflecting disapproval of lesbian, gay, transgender, and unmarried persons," Reeves wrote in the Thursday night decision. "That violates both the guarantee of religious neutrality and the promise of equal protection of the laws."

Explaining his decision to stop the law from going into effect on Friday, as it had been slated to do, Reeves wrote that the question before him "is whether ... HB 1523 violates the Establishment Clause [of the First Amendment]. The Court concludes that it does in at least two ways."