CP – A new bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Friday backed by faith groups seeks to extend federal discrimination protections for sexual orientation and gender identity while providing protections for individual and institutional religious objectors to homosexuality. Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, introduced the Fairness for All Act amending the Civil Rights Act to include discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and includes laser-precise language protecting the convictions of religious organizations, health care providers and employers.
The bill is seen as the Republican response to the Equality Act, legislation passed by the House in May to codify sexual orientation and gender identity as protected social classes in federal law but does nothing to protect the beliefs of religious objectors. “They are not mutually exclusive principles. There is enough space where both of those can be accommodated and that is what we tried to do here today. Neither side has to lose in order for the other side to win,” Stewart said at a press conference Friday. READ MORE
