Freedom of Religion in the Workplace
Brynn Tannehill
Director of Advocacy, SPART*A
Posted: 05/19/2014 3:24 pm EDT
Updated: 05/19/2014 3:59 pm EDT
Recently there has been a spate of instances where private entities have been punished for perceived anti-LGBT stances. In December it was the Duck Dynasty fiasco. In April, Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich resigned after it came to light that he had donated $1,000 to the Proposition 8 campaign in California in 2008. More recently it was the Benham Brother's pilot on HGTV not getting picked up for making anti-gay comments in the past.
The religious right has been quick to play the victim card, and claiming they are being persecuted for their sincerely held, First Amendment protected religious beliefs. Conservative Republican heavyweights like Governor Jindal, Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz have all tried to frame this as a freedom of religion issue, or of persecution of Christians.
Others, like Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins have argued that the First Amendment only applies to Christians, and those who oppose LGBT equality. This last point is particularly ironic, given how they are demanding special status for particular brands of Christianity while bemoaning "special rights" for LGBT people.
They're wrong on so many levels, though.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brynn-tannehill/freedom-of-religion-in-th_b_5347552.html
