White House approves LGBTQ discrimination
#LicenseToDiscriminate
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced on Friday his department got the go-ahead from the White House to roll back longstanding protections for LGBTQ people, effective immediately.
Since 1964, The Civil Rights Act has banned discrimination based on race, gender, or religious beliefs. After efforts to extend these protections to people based on their sexual orientation stalled in Congress, the Obama administration issued a policy barring federal contractors from engaging in these practices.
HHS has a $90.5 billion budget this year.
Some Christian groups in states like South Carolina, Texas, Michigan, and Pennsylvania argue it’s against their religious beliefs to work with the gays. And that it’s not fair they should be excluded from federal contracts just because they discriminate against LGBTQ people.
And the White House agrees.
Child welfare contracts, like adoption and foster care services — worth over $7 billion annually — will immediately stop protecting gay and lesbian parents.
HIV prevention and youth homelessness programs will also feel the impact.
The chief policy officer of the Family Equality Council says, “Religious freedom is important — we protect it in the First Amendment — but it does not extend to harming others.”
The ACLU tweeted, “Religious liberty is not a license to discriminate.”
Child advocacy groups denounced the plan, pointing out there are 123,000 children currently awaiting adoption. “Less that half of these children will find their forever families within a year, yet the administration is acting to make even fewer families available.”
“This rule will openly encourage discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, AND religion in *all* HHS programs.
“This is taxpayer-funded discrimination. Religion is NOT a #LicenseToDiscriminate.” https://twitter.com/LambdaLegal/statu...
Of course the irony in how the current occupant of the White House campaigned on protecting the LGBTQ community from Islamic terrorists isn’t lost, as his administration recently allowed the escape of hundreds of ISIS fighters held by Kurdish forces.
Right from the start, his administration banned transgender people from serving in the military.
His education secretary argues that taxpayer-funded schools should be allowed to fire teachers based on whom they love.
And just last month, the president spoke at the Family Values Summit, a conference where the nation’s most influential bigots and homophobes spend four days decrying the “gay agenda.”
Whatever that is.
He’s not an ally.
White House approves LGBTQ discrimination - YouTube
