Read how this bill will do away with religious freedom.
October 07, 2015 | | Share with Friends

Anything But Equal.

Dear XXXX,

I was wrong.

I thought we had just about beaten ENDA — the dangerous Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would force Christians to employ people utterly opposed to their own values.

But the Left has managed to mount a new assault on your rights and freedoms — and I have to confess, I’m astonished.

Now they’ve unveiled a sort of supercharged ENDA — a bill that not only strips you of your rights regarding employment, but strips you of your rights in 25 areas of U.S. law . . . 25 areas of life!

This legislation will create and enforce special privileges based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Almost every federal law that already protects on the basis of race will be retrofitted to accommodate the radical homosexual rights lobby: credit, education, employment, federal funding, housing, public educational institutions, jury service, public facilities and accommodations, and federally funded programs, to name a few.

This bill would actually require that “sex-segregated facilities” (that’s restrooms, in plain English) admit individuals based upon whether they feel that they are a “man” or a “woman” at that moment.

Result: No more distinction between male and female when it comes to restrooms or locker rooms. Why? Because that would be “discriminatory.” And this rule could apply to your child’s public school, sports stadiums, restaurants . . . everywhere.

This bill is sweeping.

This new super-ENDA — outrageously known as the “Equality Act” (S. 1858 and H.R. 3185) — also undercuts the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA: It limits the use of RFRA in employment and areas of public accommodations to defend yourself in court against charges under super-ENDA! This is a law that says, if you believe marriage is the union of one man and one woman and this law tramples your rights, the RFRA cannot be used to defend you in court.

The Left is moving way beyond “tolerance” to “coercion.” It’s no longer enough just to tolerate their view; now you must be punished if you don’t agree.

The election year calendar is driving events too. The Left is especially pushing their narrative because we’re entering a major election cycle. Now is the time, they figure, to cry “bigotry” against any senators or representatives who vote against this “Equality Act.”

The “Equality Act” is about you and your family.

Parents and grandparents need to understand that the “Equality Act” will drive a wedge between parent and child as it creates moral confusion for children. What a child is taught at home, regarding what is morally permissible, will be challenged and contradicted when they go out the door into the public sphere.

This law will obliterate parents’ ability to decide what sexual roles and sexual behaviors are proper and undermine their parental authority and responsibility.

And any resistance in the context of employment and public accommodations you might want to offer would be futile. Even if somehow you could afford massive legal fees, your defense in court would be “dead on arrival” — because this bill strips away your right to use the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to defend yourself as an employer or provider of public services. Which means there is no legal recourse for Christian business owners.

In other words, the “Equality Act” is an explicit statement that special privileges for those who participate in homosexual and transgender behavior shall henceforth trump religious rights.

We must fight back and stop super-ENDA.

FRC Action needs your strong support today to mount a massive campaign on Capitol Hill to turn back this catastrophic threat to your religious freedoms and to our very way of life.

The work of FRC Action is absolutely essential. We have earned the trust and respect of numerous leaders in Washington, so when the FRC Action team arrives in their office to present our research findings, statistical analyses, legal arguments, and principled perspectives, they listen.

We also encourage your elected leaders to stand in the face of attacks from the Left; we equip conservative leaders with facts and figures, with lines of reasoning, and more, so they won’t be intimidated into voting the wrong way.

Your support enables us to lobby, to powerfully communicate to Congress the real-life impact of legislation like the “Equality Act.” You enable us to promote our FreeToBelieve.com website, showcasing stories of ordinary Americans tragically impacted by liberal legislation on the local level. You’re also enabling us to continue mobilizing grassroots support to keep the pressure on in Washington.

I ask for your support with a sense of real urgency. We are up against huge opposition.

So we’ve got to fight. Please let me hear from you as quickly as possible, and give as generously as possible. Thank you. God bless you.

Standing (Eph. 6:13),

Tony Perkins
President

P.S.

The radicals are fearful that the pendulum is swinging back — that our nation will shift back toward the solid foundation of conservative principles — because people are beginning to grasp just how far this President has wrenched our country to the left. But in the wake of the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision, the radicals will push as hard as they can for the rest of this Presidential term.

This makes our work urgently important right now. This cannot wait. Please stand with FRC Action as generously as possible today. Thank you again.

FRC Action is a tax-exempt corporation under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Financial contributions to FRC Action are not tax-deductible.