Maria Puente

USA TODAY

Add Canadian rocker Bryan Adams to the list of touring stars speaking against or cancelling gigs over state laws or bills they condemn as discriminatory against LGBT people.

Adams issued a statement Sunday night announcing he would cancel his April 14 concert in Mississippi at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi in protest of a law supporters call a "religious liberty" measure but opponents label "anti-LGBT."

Adams called out Mississippi's recently enacted law that allows religious groups and some private businesses to refuse service to gay couples on religious grounds.

"I find it incomprehensible that LGBT citizens are being discriminated against in the state of Mississippi," Adams said in the statement, which was posted on his website. "I cannot in good conscience perform in a State where certain people are being denied their civil rights due to their sexual orientation."

He said he would use his voice to "stand in solidarity with all my LGBT friends to repeal this extremely discriminatory bill. Hopefully Mississippi will right itself and I can come back and perform for all of my many fans. I look forward to that day. #stop1523."

Bruce Springsteen cancels N.C. show over anti-LGBT law

Adams' stand follows a similar move last week by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, who canceled a Sunday concert in Greensboro, N.C., because of that state's new law barring cities and counties from trying to protect LGBT people from discrimination.

E Street guitarist and actor Stevie Van Zandt called such laws a spreading "evil virus."

On Monday, Zandt applauded Adams on Twitter and suggested that boycotts and protest cancellations by entertainers, big business and major-league sports could have an impact on similar laws on the books or being considered in a growing number of states.

The Mississippi law will take effect July 1. Supporters say it offers protection for Christians who have traditional views of marriage and gender roles, and want the right to reject, say, catering a same-sex marriage without legal consequences.

Georgia governor vetoes bill denounced as legalizing anti-gay discrimination

Organized pressure against similar laws has already had impact in Georgia, where the governor vetoed a bill condemned as anti-LGBT after Hollywood figures and major businesses said they would take their business elsewhere and the NFL threatened to take a future Super Bowl away from Atlanta.

Tennessee is another state where "bathroom" bills are under consideration, measures that would make it illegal for transgender people, including students in public schools, to use public bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity.

But some major Nashville stars are speaking out against the move, including Emmylou Harris, Chely Wright, Ty Herndon, Miley Cyrus, and Country Music Television, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the LGBT civil-rights group helping to organize opposition.

“Those who love and make country music do so because at its best it speaks to the pain and suffering everyone shares in this life. Let's not make that life harder still for some, with this mean spirited and unnecessary legislation, " Harris said in a statement issued by the HRC.