Congress Threatens Religious Freedom With New Equality Act

DULUTH, Ga. – On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a new version of the decades-old Equality Act. The legislation proposes to amend the Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender as protected classes. In a mostly party-line vote, the House will now send the bill to the Senate, where congressional Democrats hope it will fare better under a Biden presidency than it ever has in the past. But even in its latest rendition, the Equality Act remains rife with serious problems and poses a dire threat to religious liberty in America.  

“The danger presented by the Equality Act cannot be overstated,” said Timothy Head, executive director of Faith and Freedom Coalition. “By retroactively including gender and sexual orientation in the Civil Rights Act, the Equality Act will classify a slew of traditional religious beliefs as illegal discrimination. If the bill passes in the Senate, churches, private schools, Christian nonprofits and other religious groups will forever face an impossible decision: either abandon their time-honored beliefs about sex and gender or break the law and accept the possibility of crippling civil rights litigation. The Equality Act, as written, is an affront to religious liberty in all its forms.” 

Congressional Republicans and conservatives Americans have all voiced their concern that the Equality Act will deprive religious organizations of the vital religious exemptions they need to function according to their beliefs. But these concerns have gone unheard by Democrats, who are putting their liberal agenda before basic respect for the constitutional rights of religious Americans. President Biden has called the Equality Act one of his top legislative priorities, and Democrats will surely fight tooth and nail to put it into law. It remains to be determined when the bill will be introduced to the Senate. 

About the Faith & Freedom Coalition

The Faith and Freedom Coalition is a national grassroots movement of over 2 million conservatives and people of faith in support of time-honored values, stronger families, and individual freedom. Learn more about Faith & Freedom at www.ffcoalition.com.