Christians living in Mississippi move closer to gaining legal protection against being forced to acknowledge and facilitate gay marriages, thanks to a proposed law on religious freedom passed by the state's senators.

In a convincing 31-17 vote, the Republican-dominated Mississippi Senate approved the bill entitled "Protecting Freedom of Conscience From Government Discrimination Act."

The bill states that public employees, social workers and businesses cannot be punished if they deny services based on their religious belief that marriage can only exist between a man and a woman.

The bill also protects the Christian belief that "sexual relations are properly reserved" only for married men and women.

It also recognises the right of individuals to stand by their belief that gender is determined at birth.

According to a report by Fox News, the bill states that the government would not be allowed to prevent organisations from refusing to marry a same-sex couple, from firing an individual whose "conduct or religious beliefs are inconsistent with those of the religious organisation" or from blocking the adoption of a child because of religious beliefs.

Republican Senator Chris McDaniel explained that the proposed legislation simply wants to safeguard the civil liberties of Mississippi residents.

"Why not preserve the first amendment? Why not preserve the civil liberties that should have always been preserved, not necessarily by individual actors but by state action, limit the power of the state, control those passions?" the lawmaker told Fox News.

Some critics, however, believe that the bill will lead to the discrimination of members of the lesbian, gays, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Senator John Horhn, for instance, described the bill as a stain on Mississippi's reputation.

"Where does this all end? Why do we keep doing this to ourselves, Mississippi? And we wonder why the rest of the world thinks so badly of us. It's because of some things that we do that are unjust," Horhn also told Fox News.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has not publicly stated his stand on the religious liberty bill. His spokesman, Clay Chandler, said Bryant "will review the legislation if and when it reaches his desk."