Just a few weeks after the Supreme Court upheld marriage equality, Republicans are calling for legislation with bill H.R. 2802 that would protect employers and organizations that oppose same-sex marriage on the grounds of religious belief.
The Huffington Post explains:
The First Amendment Defense Act prohibits the federal government from taking discriminatory action against a person—which is defined to include for-profit corporations—acting in accordance with a religious belief that favors so-called traditional marriage. This means the feds can’t revoke a nonprofit’s tax-exempt status or end a company’s federal contract over this issue.
The bill would protect companies and people that believe marriage is a union between “one man and one woman” or that “sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage”
American Civil Liberties Union legislation representative Ian Thompson told Huffington Post that in addition to targeting the LGBTQ+ community, the bill’s language also “clearly encompasses discrimination against single mothers […] This bill is Indiana on steroids.”
The bill could also remove anti-discrimination legislation signed last year by Obama for LGBTQ+ federal contractors, and allow religious programs that receive federal grants (such as homeless shelters) to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people.
(via Jezebel, image via Shutterstock)
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