Religious Liberty and LGBTQ Humans
Christian Objections to the Equality Act do not parse
The federal LGBT Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was recently passed in the US House of Representatives. Most Americans support the Act, but political opposition is fierce, mostly pushed by conservative religious groups. The gay Log Cabin Republicans announced their opposition last week, citing religious liberty.
What does religious liberty mean to you?
To me, and I suspect to most people, it means having the right to practice one’s faith openly. It means being free to go to church, temple, or mosque, and even to share one’s faith with neighbors — if they care to listen.
Somehow, religious liberty has taken on new and fairly ugly life in the past couple of years, with conservative religious people arguing that it ought to give them the right to discriminate against minorities.
I’m talking about discrimination against LGBTQ people —
Did you know that in most of the United States, you can be fired just because you’re lesbian, gay or transgender? Did you know that in most of the US, no laws prohibit that?
That surprises a lot of people, but it’s true. No federal laws exist to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination.
While some states have passed laws to protect LGBTQ people in employment and housing, according to the LGBTQ Movement Advancement Project only 41% of the LGBT population live in such states.
Would you like to know who isn’t surprised?
Keith Kozak. The Catholic Church fired him last fall because they found out or suspect that he’s gay. He worked as a campus outreach representative at Cleveland State University, where he provided services to Catholic students, according to local ABC affiliate News 5 Cleveland.
