Sen. Mike Lee reintroduces religious freedom bill, LGBTQ groups cry discrimination
Source: CNN
Updated 7:20 AM ET, Fri March 9, 2018
Washington (CNN)Sen. Mike Lee reintroduced a controversial bill Thursday that aims to protect religious freedom but which critics argue could lead to discrimination against the LGBTQ community.
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The bill seeks to protect individuals and institutions from punitive action by the government -- such as revoking tax exempt status or withholding federal grants or benefits -- for believing that marriage is between one man and one woman and for opposing sex outside of marriage.
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Unlike the 2015 version, however, the bill would also protect those who support any federal legal definition of marriage between two people, including same-sex marriage. So, for example, a pro-same-sex marriage group would be protected against discriminatory efforts from an administration that opposes same-sex marriage.
A spokesman for Lee, Conn Carroll, said the change was made after critics raised equality concerns about the bill in 2015.
Despite the change, activist groups still argue the bill could lead to unfair treatment. "Any changes made to this bill can't hide its true animus: to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ people," said Masen Davis, CEO of Freedom for All Americans, a campaign that fights for LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections.............................
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/09/politics/first-amendment-defense-act/index.html
Spouting1horn
(46 posts)Your religion does not trump the human rights of others, ever.
logosoco
(3,208 posts)And what about eating hoofed animals who do not chew cud? Or shellfish? Or having tattoos?
Using religious beliefs to make law is not a good path to go down. There is nothing about religion that says "Freedom".
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)vkkv
(3,384 posts)What has occurred over the course of the last few centuries is a growing recognition that science gets the job done, while religion makes excuses. Sometimes they are very pretty excuses that capture the imagination of the public, but ultimately, when you want to win a war or heal a dying child or get rich from a discovery or explore Antarctica, you turn to science and reason, or you fail. -PZ Myers, biology professor (b. 9 Mar 1957)
Botany
(70,483 posts).... faith and if that works for you fine but your believe in a deity does not give the right
to act like a deity and tell the rest of us how to live.
BTW when do we hear about about Sen. Lee and his visit to the "locker room" men's
club?