The Family Research Council's Tony Perkins is here to assure us that Donald Trump is still going to take executive action that grants special rights to Christians to discriminate against LGBTQ Americans. John Harwood writes:
"I think this is going to be addressed," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. Proponents of "religious liberty" argue that religiously oriented workplaces should be allowed to consider a person's sexual orientation in doing business.
The White House appeared to dismiss the possibility and embrace an earlier [pro-LGBTQ] directive from Obama in a Monday night statement. [...]
Yet Perkins said the statement does not preclude a new executive order protecting religious organizations from "having to change their views on human sexuality and marriage" while holding contracts with the federal government. Though he notes that he hasn't "gotten complete clarity," he said, "I have every confidence" that President Trump will act along the lines of a proposal offered previously by Republican Rep. Steve Russell of Oklahoma to exempt "any religious corporation, religious association, religious education institution or religious society" with a federal contract from Obama's directive.
In other words, a Christian adoption agency that receives federal funding could decline to place children with same-sex couples for religious reasons. They’d likely also be able to discriminate in their hiring practices. Bottom line: It’s taxpayer-funded discrimination.
Pro-LGBTQ groups, including the Human Rights Campaign and the Center for American Progress, still think this executive action is coming. It's surely something Mike Pence is pushing for. Stay tuned.