Mississippi
Bill to protect women’s spaces moves forward in Mississippi
- The SAFER Act seeks to define sex-based terms by biological sex while providing protections for women’s spaces such as bathrooms and locker rooms.
Mississippi Republican lawmakers continue to seek protections for women in the most vulnerable of spaces by advancing the SAFER Act, authored by State Senator Josh Harkins.
SB 2753 passed the Senate by a vote of 40-12 in mid-March.
The legislation was then amended in the House, passing on the floor by a vote of 80-31 on Wednesday after a robust challenge from Democrats opposing the bill, claiming it was nothing more than playing politics.
One Democratic lawmaker, State Rep. Zakiya Summers, said the bill would cause transgender people and their supporters not to move to the state while another Democrat, State Rep. Jeffrey Harness, warned of lawsuits should the bill become law.
The SAFER Act seeks to define sex-based terms such as woman, female, man, and male on biological sex instead of following trends in blue states that are using gender identify, or how a male or female view themselves, as the defining factor.
The SAFER Act also aims to protect women’s safe spaces, such as in bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms.
The legislation builds on the Mississippi Fairness Act, passed into law in 2021, which prevents males from competing in girls and women sports. Language that would have protected single-sex spaces was not in the final version of that bill, meaning for those seeking to protect those spaces for women additional legislation is needed.
Opponents of the legislation claim it’s an anti-transgender bill targeting an extreme minority. Yet, supporters point to recent polling of registered voters in Mississippi from the Independent Women’s Voice that shows 95% of respondents believe it is important that Mississippi law protect private spaces for women.
According to a 2022 report from UCLA’s Williams Institute, state-level estimates of person who identify as transgender in Mississippi is 9,600 over 18 years old and another 2,400 between the ages of 13 and 17.
The legislation now heads back to the Senate where lawmakers could concur and send it on to the Governor for his signature, invite conference to work out any differences, or let it die. Given the overwhelming support for the bill from the supermajority Republican chamber, the bill has a good chance of finding its way to Governor Tate Reeves’ desk.
Senator Harkins told Magnolia Tribune that he is glad to see that the Senate and the House of Representatives have now demonstrated that they support legislation defining sex according to biology and protecting safe public spaces for women and girls.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues to get the SAFER Act on Governor Reeve’s desk to be signed into law,” Harkins said.
Softball
May 16, 2026
Alyssa Faircloth’s no-hitter is Mississippi State’s first in NCAA softball tournament
May 16, 2026
Alyssa Faircloth threw a no-hitter in Mississippi State’s regional win over Oregon, the Bulldogs’ first in an NCAA tournament game. Watch the extended highlights from the no-hitter here.
Despite scoring 33 runs in its final three-game series, Mississippi State baseball didn’t leave College Station, Texas, with a series victory.
No. 10 Texas A&M beat the visiting No. 12 Bulldogs 7-6 on May 16. It was the rubber match of the three-game series. MSU (39-16, 16-14 SEC) won the first game 18-11 and Texas A&M (39-13, 18-11) took the second game 11-9.
The Bulldogs are still entering the postseason in good position. MSU will be anywhere between the No. 8 and No. 10 seed in the SEC Tournament and has a case to be awarded a top-16 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
MSU can hit and does it well. The Bulldogs entered May 16 with the No. 2 batting average in the SEC (.314) and the third-most runs (471). Pitching was more hit-or-miss.
Here’s what stood out regarding MSU’s pitching in the regular season finale as the Bulldogs head into the postseason.
Ryan McPherson is back, but can he find peak form?
Getting star sophomore Ryan McPherson back in any capacity is big for MSU, but the Bulldogs need him to look like his old self to have their best chance at a deep postseason run.
McPherson started Game 3 against Alabama. He pitched 2⅓ innings, allowing one earned run on 44 pitches. He got into some trouble in the third inning and was pulled.
McPherson has only pitched one other time since March 20, when he suffered a forearm strain against Vanderbilt. That was on May 9 vs Auburn, but he only threw 1⅓ innings before he injured his ankle after tripping behind home plate while backing up a potential throw in the second inning.
At his best, McPherson has lights-out stuff that can win a postseason game. He was 5-1 with a 2.45 ERA before getting injured.
Ben Davis quietly shined in bullpen
The MSU bullpen got plenty of action against Texas A&M. Senior reliever Ben Davis pitched all three days.
Davis threw one inning in the first game, 2⅓ in the second game and 1⅓ in the finale. Across the 4⅔-inning span, Davis allowed four hits and no earned runs. He struck out three.
It’s the first time this season Davis pitched three consecutive days.
Walks, not hits, cost Mississippi State the series
The Bulldogs outhit the Aggies 11-7 in Game 3, but the discrepancy in walks was too much to overcome.
MSU walked 13 batters and drew just one.
Four of the walks went on McPherson’s ledger, but the bullpen struggled with control as well. Five of the six relievers who pitched after McPherson walked at least one batter. Only 96 of the 176 pitches MSU threw were in the strike zone.
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at Shutchens@gannett.com or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
Easy ways to identify snakes
Depending on where you are, snakes are inevitable. Here’s how to identify if the snake is venomous or not.
Can you kill a snake in your yard in Mississippi? As the weather heats up and people spend time outdoors, run-ins with snakes are increasingly likely.
It is legal to kill most snakes found in Mississippi. But there are rules about when you need a license. Some species have federal protection.
Mississippi is home to more than 50 types of snakes. A small number are venomous.
Most snake-related interactions can be avoided by just walking away or letting them slither to safety. Still, there are times when you might need to keep kids and pets safe.
Here’s what we know about the rules protecting wildlife, venomous snakes that live in Mississippi and which species are protected.
Can you kill a snake in your yard in Mississippi?
Yes, Mississippi residents can kill a snake in their yard. Mississippi landowners, or people who live on the property, can kill a snake on their property, whether it’s venomous or not.
It’s one of a few specific exceptions when the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks allows killing a snake without a hunting or fishing license.
Nongame snakes and animals that have come inside a resident’s building, damage plants and yards or hurt pets or livestock can be killed. Nonresidents are allowed to kill wildlife that enters a building they lease or rent.
If a venomous snake poses “a reasonable danger to human life,” MDWFP regulations allow people to kill it.
In any of these cases, the animal’s body has to be disposed of or allowed to decay in nature. You can’t keep it as a trophy or sell it.
Mississippi landowners, or people who live on a property, can kill a snake on their property, whether it’s venomous or not.
When you need a license to kill a snake
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks oversees regulations for hunting and the management of nongame species in the state.
Everyone needs the appropriate hunting/fishing license to harvest snakes for personal use, according to MDWFP information. No more than 20 nongame snakes and lizards can be taken a year. No more than four specimens of a species or subspecies should be taken from the wild in a year.
Venomous snakes found in Mississippi
The Mississippi Poison Control Center via the University of Mississippi Medical Center lists venomous snakes and other animals, like spiders, stingrays and jellyfish.
The list of dangerous snakes includes:
- Timber rattlesnakes
- Pygmy rattlesnakes
- Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes
- Water moccasins (also called Cottonmouths)
- Coral snakes
- Copperheads
Snake Snap lists eight snakes with venom. The site includes specific variations of some species: Western Cottonmouth and Northern Cottonmouth, along with the Dusky and Western variations of Pygmy Rattlesnakes.
Snakes you cannot legally kill
The Endangered Species Act helps protect native wildlife and plants from dying off entirely. The MDWFP lists several animals that are protected, including the black bear, Florida Panther and gopher tortoise. All sea turtles, sawback turtles and two kinds of bat are also protected.
These snakes are protected because they’re listed as an endangered species:
- Black pine snake
- Eastern indigo snake
- Rainbow snake
- Southern hognose snake
The Eastern Indigo Snake hasn’t been seen in decades in Mississippi. It’s now considered rare in the state or extirpated, meaning locally extinct.
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with USA TODAY Network. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.
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