![]() ![]() National How The Fight For Religious Freedom Has Fallen Victim To The Culture WarsĪnother key fear among opponents of the Equality Act is that it would threaten businesses or organizations that have religious objections to serving LGBTQ people, forcing them to choose between operating or following their beliefs. Supporters additionally say the bill would cement protections that could otherwise be left up to interpretation. According to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, 27 states do not have those laws. The bill also would be national, covering states that do not have LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws. And we think that's a really important principle to maintain," said Ian Thompson, senior legislative representative at the ACLU. "Just as would not be able to turn away somebody for any other prohibited reason in the law, they would not be able to do that for LGBTQ people either. Supporters say that the Equality Act simply extends basic, broadly accepted tenets of the Civil Rights Act to classes of people that the bill doesn't explicitly protect. Under the Equality Act, an entity couldn't use RFRA to challenge the act's provisions, nor could it use RFRA as a defense to a claim made under the act. The law, passed in 1993, set a higher bar for the government to defend laws if people argued those laws infringed upon religious freedom. Importantly, the bill also explicitly says that it trumps the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (commonly known by its acronym RFRA). Law In Narrow Opinion, Supreme Court Rules For Baker In Gay-Rights Case "Every person should be treated with dignity and respect, and this bill represents a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all."īut it's also controversial - while the Equality Act has broad support among Democrats, many Republicans oppose it, fearing that it would infringe upon religious objections. When House Democrats introduced the bill last week, Biden reiterated his support in a statement: "I urge Congress to swiftly pass this historic legislation," he wrote. The bill now goes to the Senate, where its fate is unclear. The House vote was largely along party lines, passing with the support of all Democrats and just three Republicans. It's a bill that President Biden said on the campaign trail would be one of his top legislative priorities for the first 100 days of his presidency. It would also substantially expand the areas to which those discrimination protections apply. The House of Representatives voted on Thursday to pass the Equality Act, a bill that would ban discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 8, 2019, as the court heard arguments in the first case of LGBT rights since the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. ![]() Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington where the Court on Oct.
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