In an article in RealClearReligion, Thomas Farr, president of the Religious Freedom Institute, contends that the Equality Act will “harm one of the most fundamental rights we all share as Americans – religious freedom.” While the Act “purports to ban discrimination,” Farr writes, “it actually bans disagreement.” 

This legislation would add sexual orientation and gender identity to classes protected under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and it passed overwhelmingly today in the U.S. House of Representatives.

While the Civil Rights Act was necessary to overcome institutionalized racism, the Equality Act would suppress particular beliefs on sexual expression and behavior, especially religious convictions on sexuality, marriage, human nature, and human dignity. The law would devastate institutions built on those convictions, such as schools, charities, small businesses, hospitals, and houses of worship.

Read the full article: The Equality Act Will Harm Religious Freedom.