“Equality Act” Will Lead To Wide-spread Persecution of Christians
Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed the federal “Equality Act” (H.R. 5) (better described as the “False Equivalency” Act), maybe THE most dangerous piece of federal legislation of our lifetime that will result in the wide-spread persecution of Christians and people of faith if it’s passed by the U.S. Senate.
This bill would completely change the federal civil rights structure to mandate special privileges for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” (SOGI) and even abortion access, which will have disastrous consequences for women, children, medical professionals, and people of faith.
The Equality Act is an extreme version of the so-called “Virginia Values Act” that was enacted into law last year in Virginia, which inserted far-reaching special SOGI protections into virtually every part of our law (employment, public accommodations, housing, contracting, etc.), which necessarily create direct conflicts with people of faith (typically Christians).
What's truly frightening about this bill is that anti-religious sentiment isn’t being hidden – it’s on full display both in the written text and in the debates that are taking place. The Equality Act includes a provision that expressly prohibits anyone from asserting the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to defend against the intrusions imposed by this bill. During an interview with MSNBC, an LGBTQ spokesperson, Kate Sosin, said “if you put religious exemptions in the bill, you’re opening up a can of worms.” And in response to a speech offered on the House floor by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), in which he quoted Deuteronomy 22:5, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) sneered back with the following comment: “what any religious tradition describes as God's will is no concern of this Congress."
Here is a brief overview of some of the specific problems with the “Equality Act”:
Violates the fundamental freedoms of speech and religion:
It would force faith-based charities, non-profits, and private schools to compromise their deeply held religious beliefs in order to affirm a person’s immoral sexual behavior or false gender status, or risk punishment or loss of federal funding/tax exemptions.
Professionals that specialize in creative services — like bakers, photographers and florists — would be compelled to communicate messages (typically associated with weddings) that directly contradict their religious beliefs and violate their conscience or be forced out of their profession.
Undermines parental rights:
It would jeopardize parental authority related to the training and well-being of their children by prohibiting parents from interfering with a child’s access to “transgender” medical procedures. Already, parents in Ohio lost custody of their teenage child because they refused to approve puberty blocker and cross-sex hormones.
Mandates “transgender” policies:
It could impose nationwide policies on “transgender” bathroom use, forced pronoun usage, and a nationwide sex “reassignment” health care mandate.
It jeopardizes women’s privacy and safety by allowing biological males access to public bathrooms, locker rooms, showers and women’s shelters.
It would unfairly penalize female athletes by allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports.
Overrides all abortion restrictions:
It provides that “pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition” cannot be treated any differently than other physical conditions, which could be used to override all state and federal abortion restrictions. This means anybody or any group who doesn’t want to fund or commit an abortion at any stage could be subject to punishment.
The “Equality Act” would force upon every American an anti-life, anti-family, anti-faith, and anti-science set of values that we’ve never seen or experienced before. Please let your voice be heard and tell Senators Tim Kaine (D) and Mark Warner (D) to OPPOSE this dangerous legislation.
CLICK HERE to contact Senators Kaine and Warner to urge them to OPPOSE H.R. 5, the “Equality Act”.
You can also call Sen. Tim Kaine at (202) 224-4024, and Sen. Mark Warner at (202) 224-2023.
