On Friday Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) announced the introduction of ‘Fairness for All Americans’ Act" a bill in the House of Representatives claiming to provide greater federal protections for our LGBTQ community. This bill however falls seriously short of adequately addressing our issues & opens avenues for more religious discrimination against our LGBTQ community & other groups even though some conservative religious leaders are finally recognizing that LGBTQ people need federal protections from harm. As we reported earlier in this session of Congress, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 5, the Equality Act. the landmark legislation has the support of scores of faith & civil rights leaders from across the country. Despite bipartisan support for this critical legislation good old Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has refused to schedule a vote on the Equality Act in the Senate. Maggie Siddiqi, Center for American Progress Director of the Faith & Progressive Policy Initiative stated, “While we welcome new faith groups to the movement for LGBTQ equality, numerous faith leaders & faith communities from across the country have already endorsed the Equality Act in order to provide full nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people & other protected groups. As people of faith, we care deeply about our religious freedom & about equality for our LGBTQ community members & we believe that the Equality Act affirms both rights. It is false to suggest that one right must be compromised in order to fulfill the other. We urge faith-based organizations who support LGBTQ civil rights to affirm that support by endorsing the Equality Act.”
For More Info: americanprogress.org
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The proposed legislation indicates an important recognition on the part of religious organizations who are, for the first time, acknowledging the reality of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and the human toll this takes on a significant number of Americans.
ReplyDeleteWhile we acknowledge these historic first steps, we believe that any legislative remedy must be comprehensive in addressing the full range of discrimination faced by LGBTQ Americans, and unfortunately, the ‘Fairness for All Americans” Act fails to meet that standard, prompting Lambda Legal to join this statement with other civil rights organizations. Lambda Legal remains eager to work with any and all people of good faith who are interested in crafting appropriate and comprehensive remedies to the pernicious problem of anti-LGBTQ discrimination in America.