The federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has refused a rehearing by the full court on a lawsuit attempting to block state House Bill 1523, a religious objections bill that opponents say codifies discrimination against LGBT people.

Pending further challenge, the ruling will allow the bill to take effect Friday.

The bill, supporters say, protects people who act on the beliefs that marriage is between one man and one woman, that sexual relations are properly confined to such a marriage and that male and female refers to an individual's biological sex at birth. It was passed in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that legalized gay marriage nationwide.

The bill, the "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act" passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Phil Bryant in 2016, has been on hold from a ruling by federal District Judge Carlton Reeves that it unconstitutionally privileges people who hold three particular religious beliefs, in violation of the First Amendment.

A three-judge panel of the appellate court had ruled the plaintiffs, Campaign for Southern Equality, lacked standing to bring the challenge. The full court declined to rehear the case.

More:Religious liberty or anti-gay? Appeals court will decide

Roberta Kaplan, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, vowed to do "everything humanly possible to continue to fight this harmful law on the merits," noting the appellate court did not address the law's constitutionality.

"HB 1523 is a reckless law that discriminates against and hurts the LGBT community," said the Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, director of the Campaign for Southern Equality. "We have fought this from day one and will continue to do so with every tool available to us."

Bryant in a statement released Sunday said: "As I have said from the beginning, this law was democratically enacted and is perfectly constitutional. The people of Mississippi have the right to ensure that all of our citizens are free to peacefully live and work without fear of being punished for their sincerely held religious beliefs."

ContactGeoff Pender at 601-961-7266 orgpender@gannett.com. Follow him onTwitter.