Apr
7
How the “Equality Act” Could Make Your Life Hell
“[The Equality Act is the] most extreme threat to religious freedom, free speech, privacy, and to women’s rights that has ever been proposed by Congress. [It] will be used as a wrecking ball to churches, religious organizations, religious freedom, and free speech.” — Liberty Counsel
The Equality Act has been around for several years, and last month Nancy Pelosi (backed by fellow Democrats in the House and Senate) introduced the latest version (aka H.R. 5 in the House and S. 788 in the Senate) for Congressional consideration. The goal is to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ as protected classes throughout the federal code, thereby effectively creating a “federal sexual orientation and gender identity law” (SOGI). Put another way, it would ban anything considered by LGBTQ+ activists and other Leftists to be discrimination based on said orientation / identity.
This sort of law would compel:
o a business owner to acquiesce to client/customer requests/demands for a customized product or use of facilities or other services in their celebration of, say, a “coming out” party, same-sex wedding, or gender “transition”
o a medical professional to perform a procedure or administer a drug (or hormone) on a patient in pursuit of gender transition, even a child
o a parent to help their minor child “transition” to another gender with some sort of therapy
o a foster care or adoption agency that believes every child deserves both a mother and a father to place children with same-sex couples
o a school or sports organization to allow trans-identifying, biological males to compete against biological females, despite concerns for the females’ safety, dignity, or loss of educational and professional opportunities
o a teacher to use masculine pronouns in referring to a female student (or feminine… male) who identifies as transgender; same would apply in employee-to-employee and similar situations
o a business to comply with a nationwide bathroom policy, which allows biological males (including sexual predators) access to bathrooms used by women and children
Jack Phillips
Anyone who refused to comply with such mandates based on “religious conviction” or “as a matter of conscience” would be guilty of a federal offense and subject to prosecution. This, of course, could result in drawn-out legal battles, huge expenses (i.e., fines, legal fees, court costs), loss of job or of your business/practice (or, at the very least, loss of customers and damaged reputation), not to mention possible imprisonment. In some cases, you might even lose custody of your own children.
All these types of situations are already happening and being prosecuted at local and state levels, with at least a couple going before the SCOTUS. You have probably heard or read of at least a couple (e.g., Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop; Barronelle Stutzman of Arlene’s Flowers and Gifts). They will get worse and more common should a federal SOGI law be enacted.
Given the way things are going, such “rights” will likely be given priority over freedoms of speech, religion, etc. In fact, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said as much when testifying before the House Judicial Committee (which he chairs):
“Religion is no excuse for discrimination when it comes to sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Supporters of the Equality Act of 2019 say it is necessary, for example, to ensure equal rights for “transgendered” Americans and make LGBTQ people feel safe. In fact, it would give special rights to them at the cost of “penalizing everyday Americans for their beliefs about marriage and biological sex.”
Somewhat surprisingly, it isn’t just straight conservatives who recognize the dangers of H.R. 5. One exception is Julia Beck, a self-described radical lesbian feminist and the former law and policy co-chair for Baltimore’s LGBTQ Commission. She warns of several types of situations that will put women and girls in danger, once they have been robbed of their ability to expect or request single-sex restrooms, locker rooms, shelters, prisons, medical care, etc.
Greg Angelo, a gay rights advocate and former president of Log Cabin Republicans, writes:
“Don’t be fooled by the name: The Equality Act is legislation that would compromise American civil rights and religious liberty as we know it. All reasonable Americans, especially gay Americans who support pluralism and tolerance, should oppose it.”
Polling by Heritage Foundation already indicates that a majority of Americans do not want SOGI laws “forcing transgender ideology on others, including parents, doctors, nurses, business owners, charities, and women.” This is great, but something tells me the Leftists won’t let this microcosm of democracy keep them from pushing their agenda. Democrats already have more than enough co-sponsors to pass the bill in the House, and they are getting very close in the Senate. Many big corporations support it, as well.
We must stay on top of this and let our representatives in Washington (including the President) know that they must kill this bill and any other legislation that tries to institute this sort of unconstitutional lunacy.
