For a while there, it looked like the religious right was just ignoring the EEOC ruling last week which added sexual orientation protections in interpreting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with regard to employment decisions. However, the ever astute Maggie Gallagher has chimed in about it.
From pulse2016.com:
On Friday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission made a remarkably lawless decision: it unilaterally added “sexual orientation” the Civil Rights Act of 1964, something wholly unjustified by the text, by the history, or by the plain meaning of the statute, hijacking the civil rights movement in a profound new way.
Everyone knows the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not include sexual orientation. Even the gay rights movement knows it, because they proposed adding employment discrimination by statute, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), and even adding sexual orientation to the ’64 Act.
Now, unless Congress acts, every religious school, charity, and parachurch organization must hire openly gay people, or face potential backbreaking litigation.
Will Kennedy overturn this ruling? Don’t count on it. Will Congress pass a law against it, clarifying the Civil Rights Act of 1964 means what it says? Don’t count on that either. But it is a crucial test of whether or not the GOP is going to acquiesce in the redefinition of Christianity as racism.
And, from the
Edge Pittsburgh:
Formerly the head of the now irrelevant National Organization for Marriage, Gallagher now serves as senior fellow for the conservative group American Principles in Action, who, according to their website are "dedicated to preserving and propagating the universal principles of America's founding -- that we are all, 'created equal...'"
So, if Maggie's new bosses are all for equality, what's her beef with "equal" employment?
According to Gallagher, the EEOC's decision to ensure equal treatment of all employees will result in an attack on religion where, "every religious school, charity, and parachurch organization must hire openly gay people, or face potential backbreaking litigation."
Gallagher's solution is for Congress to pass the First Amendment Defense Act, a bill aimed to protect the tax exempt status of religious institutions who want to discriminate against LGBT Americans.
Hey, Maggie! I thought your anti-gay animus was limited to marriage equality. Yeah, right.