LGBT groups join the fight against religious exemptions

CTA has long stood against the expanding religious exemptions that leave Church workers unprotected by federal laws. We were glad to hear this week that some LGBT groups are taking a stronger stance against these exemptions.

The proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act has been something LGBT groups have been united on for many years. More recently, groups including Lambda Legal, the Transgender Law Center, ACLU, National Center for Lesbian Rights and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders have spoken up with concern about the expanding exemptions that were added to the bill in negotiations to get it passed by Congress. This week they said:

"The provision in the current version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that allows religious organizations to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity has long been a source of significant concern to us. Given the types of workplace discrimination we see increasingly against LGBT people, together with the calls for greater permission to discriminate on religious grounds that followed immediately upon the Supreme Court’s decision last week in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, it has become clear that the inclusion of this provision is no longer tenable. It would prevent ENDA from providing protections that LGBT people desperately need and would make very bad law with potential further negative effects. Therefore, we are announcing our withdrawal of support for the current version of ENDA."

Call To Action's advocacy for Church Workers has made us well aware of the harm religious exemptions can do.  We regularly see workers fired with no legal recourse, simply for the decision to use birth control or marry their partner. We will continue to organize against religious exemptions in anti-discrimination laws. We appreciate all those who are standing – and will stand – with us to ensure individuals cannot be discriminated against because of who they are.