Tony Perkins, president of the
Christian conservative Family Research Council (FRC), applauded an
Idaho House committee's decision to kill a bill that sought to add
sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's Human Rights
Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, color,
religion and national origin in employment, housing, education and
public accommodations.
The Idaho House State Affairs Committee
voted 13-4 along party lines, with Democrats voting in the minority,
to pass on the so-called “Add the Words” bill after hearing more
than 20 hours of public testimony over three days.
Supporters who far outnumbered
opponents held an impromptu protest in the halls of the statehouse
after the vote. Many openly wept as they stood silently holding
their hands over their mouths.
Among those who testified was FRC's
Peter Sprigg.
Sprigg warned lawmakers that such laws
“prepare the way for reverse discrimination.”
“The more open homosexuals and
transgendered people become, the more people who hold traditional
values will be forced to conceal their sincerely-held personal
beliefs – or face punishment for expressing them. This has
happened even when an employee's views are expressed outside of work,
and even when no explicit reference is made to sexual orientation or
gender identity,” he testified.
In an email to supporters, Perkins
described the vote as citizens “finally standing up to the
government's anti-faith bullies.”
“In Oklahoma, South Carolina, and
Texas, Republicans are moving quickly on measures that would penalize
any government employee caught issuing same-sex 'marriage' licenses –
regardless of the courts' orders,” Perkins
said. “Meanwhile, Utah, North Carolina, and South Carolina are
desperately trying to give cover to anyone with religious objections
to same-sex 'marriage' by drafting bills that would give government
officials the ability to opt out of licensing or officiating same-sex
couples. The brushfire over religious liberty continues in places
like Idaho, where citizens are finally standing up to the
government's anti-faith bullies. After three days and hundreds of
testimonies (including FRC's Peter Sprigg's), the state's heated
debate came to a sudden end when Idaho's House committee downed a
Houston-type special rights ordinance that would have punished people
with natural views on human biology and sexuality. By a 13-4 vote,
Republicans succeeded in killing the measure. In the end,
conservatives made it clear to the Left's Add the Words campaign that
the only words that matter are the First Amendment's.
Congratulations to our friends in the Gem State, who are adding their
voices to those across the country who have the courage to fight back
against these fierce assaults to our most basic freedoms.”