As the first anniversary of the repeal of the religious based discrimination known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell approaches, Congressional Republicans continue their efforts to give license to anti-gay bigotry within the military and to single out LGBT servicemembers for restrictions on use of military facilities. In a letter to Congressional Democrats, the ACLU is urging Democrats to have a spine and kill these anti-gay measures. The sad truth is that the Republican Party and its standard bearers, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, openly seek to grant special rights to hate and bigotry filled far right Christians to the detriment of other citizens. Actions that I would argue are in direct conflict with the U. S. Constitution which prohibits special rights for any one religious group. Note that one of the authors of the measures is the virulently anti-woman Todd Akin. Here are portions of the ACLU's letter via BuzzFeed:
Using Religion to Discriminate Against Lesbian and Gay Service Members
First, in what remains of the 112th Congress, one of the most important requests of Senate Democrats is to ensure that two anti-gay provisions included in the House-passed FY 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (H.R. 4310) are not included in the final version of this legislation that will be sent to President Obama for his signature later this year. These two provisions – Sections 536 and 537 respectively – would undermine the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and compromise open service for lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members.
Section 536, which is based on the so-called “Military Religious Freedom Protection Act” (H.R. 3828) and was offered as an amendment during markup in the House Armed Services Committee by Rep. Todd Akin (RMO), could function as a dangerous license to use religion as a cover for discrimination against lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members, by stating that the beliefs of members of the Armed Forces “concerning the appropriate and inappropriate expression of human sexuality” must be accommodated and shall not be the “basis for any adverse personnel action, discrimination, or denial of promotion, schooling, training, or assignment.” This language – a solution in search of a problem – could encourage the creation of personal, social, and institutional barriers which would make the military a hostile environment for the very people who only recently won a measure of equality. It would also make it very difficult for commanders to remove such barriers when they do arise.
Section 537 would prohibit Defense Department facilities from being used for private marriage or “marriage-like” ceremonies for same-sex couples, even where state law permits such marriages. This provision ignores the fact that these facilities are already available for use by service members for a range of religious functions and ceremonies, including weddings, funerals, baptisms, confirmations, and other events. To deny them to gay and lesbian service members – even in those states where same-sex couples enjoy the freedom to marry – based on nothing more than the sexual orientation of those wishing to make use of the facilities is discriminatory.
The ACLU continues the pressure and also urges Democrats to push passage of legislation that would bar the open anti-gay discrimination allowed under the laws of far too many states, including Virginia. Here's the on point language:
Moving LGBT Equality Under the Law Forward – SNDA, ENDA and Respect for
Marriage
The ACLU has been a longtime champion of three affirmative pieces of legislation – the Student Non-Discrimination Act (S. 555), the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (S. 811), and the Respect for Marriage Act (S. 598) – which would, if enacted, represent tremendous strides forward for LGBT equality under the law. All are long overdue and we would like to see continued movement on each of these measures in the near future.
The Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) . . . . would have a profound impact in improving the lives of LGBT students in the U.S. by ensuring that discrimination and harassment of students on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity has no place in our nation’s public elementary and secondary schools.
[T]he Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) . . . . by prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in most American workplaces, the legislation will allow American workers who stand side-by-side at the workplace and contribute with equal measure in their jobs to also stand on the same equal footing under the law.
It is far past time that special rights for Christianists and a pass on their incessant anti-gay hate and bigotry cease to be legally sanctioned under the nation's laws. Until this happens, America's claim that it guarantees religious freedom for all remains a lie and a farce.
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