AFA: Equality Act Would Violate Religious Liberty for All Americans

As Congressional Democrats vigorously push the Equality Act (H.R. 5), which would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include extrinsic qualities, sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes, the American Family Association (AFA, afa.net) has written a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to voice its opposition to the measure.

“AFA strongly opposes any amendment to federal statutes, especially the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to expand protected classes to include sexual orientation and/or gender identity or any expansion of protected classes in places of public accommodation,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon. “The GOP has rightly criticized the Democratic Party on the issue of sexual orientation and gender identity. The 2016 Republican Platform scolded the actions of bureaucrats, notably those in the Democratic Party under the Obama administration, for their insistence on redefining the word sex in Title IX to include gender identity.”

Likewise, AFA agrees with the Republican Party Platform, where it stated:

That same provision of law (Title IX) is now being used by bureaucrats—and by the current President of the United States (President Obama)—to impose a social and cultural revolution upon the American people by wrongly redefining sex discrimination to include sexual orientation or other categories (gender identity). Their agenda has nothing to do with individual rights; it has everything to do with power. They are determined to reshape our schools—and our entire society—to fit the mold of an ideology alien to America’s history and traditions. Their edict to the states concerning restrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities is at once illegal, dangerous, and ignores privacy issues. We salute the several states which have filed suit against it.

Congressional Republicans will be pressured to pass legislation and support policies that expand the definition of sex to include sexual orientation and gender identity, added Rob Chambers, vice president for AFA Action, the governmental affairs affiliate of the American Family Association.

“The Equality Act would violate the constitutional protection of religious liberty for all Americans—not just institutional churches,” Chambers said. “AFA informed Senate leadership that we will ‘score’ the vote in future candidate evaluations. We have informed our grassroots activists on these issues and will prepare them to contact and urge their senators to vote against any legislation that would codify sexual orientation and/or gender identity into law.”