Attorney General Jeff Sessions took his “religious liberty” crusade this week to the Christian Broadcasting Network to explain why the right of Christians to discriminate should override the right of LGBTQ Americans to live free from discrimination. Specifically, Sessions expanded on why the Department of Justice filed a “friend of the court” brief in support of a Colorado baker’s right to refuse service to a same-sex couple getting married. ThinkProgress's Zack Ford writes:
In his remarks, Sessions admitted he shares the opinion that a baker who prepares a wedding cake somehow “participates” in the wedding ceremony, arguing that Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop has the “fundamental right” not to participate in something he doesn’t believe in.
Well what I would say to you now, while the matter is in litigation, but I would just say to you that too often we have ignored what the Constitution actually says. It says Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of a religion nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof. So the question is, the cake baker has more than just a personal view here. He has a religious view and he feels that he is not being able to freely exercise his religion by being required to participate in a ceremony in some fashion that he does not believe in. So we think that right is a fundamental right and ought to be respected as we work through this process.
In a segment cut from the full interview as aired, Sessions also said that he believes the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) protects Phillips, because it states that the government cannot impose a person’s religious belief “without a compelling reason to do so.” In other words, he believes there’s no compelling reason to protect a same-sex couple like David Mullins and Charlie Craig from discrimination because of their sexual orientation.
To be clear about the law here—federal civil rights law does not prohibit discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, but a Colorado ordinance does ban such discrimination. So Sessions is pitting First Amendment religious protections against state protections for LGBTQ Americans.
This is more than just red meat for the base. Laying the legal groundwork for a series of court decisions that privilege religious liberties over the freedoms of others—particularly LGBTQ people and women of all colors—is one of the main legacies he hopes to leave as attorney general.