Former Log Cabin President: The Equality Act Would Oppress Anti-LGBT Christians, Flout American Principles

Former Log Cabin president Gregory Angelo writes:

Don’t be fooled by the name: The Equality Act is legislation that would compromise American civil rights and religious liberty as we know it. All reasonable Americans, especially gay Americans who support pluralism and tolerance, should oppose it.

In 1975, when it was first introduced in Congress, this legislation was certainly more needed and relevant. At the time, gay Americans faced prejudice at a far more pervasive rate than they do today. In the 44 years since, without any federal legislative coercion, corporate America has taken the lead, developing organic policies that respect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees. This is the free market at work in all its glory, and it offers a far more promising path than this flawed legislation.

In the run-up to the United States Supreme Court marriage equality decisions of 2013 and 2015, gay advocates such as myself promised those we disagreed with that allowing same-sex couples to marry would have no effect on them, their families, or their faith. Passage of the “Equality Act” would make liars out of the lot of us.

It would put the nonprofit status of religious charities at risk; it would force mom-and-pop businesses to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies; and it would flout bedrock principles that have served as the foundation of the American experience for centuries.