Tony Perkins, president of the
Christian conservative Family Research Council (FRC), has criticized
President Barack Obama's endorsement of the Equality Act.
On Tuesday, White House press secretary
Josh Earnest told reporters that the administration “strongly
supports” the measure.
The Equality Act, introduced by
Democrats over the summer, seeks to prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination
in seven key areas, including credit, education, employment, federal
funding, housing, jury service and public accommodations, by
effectively expanding the Civil Rights Act, originally approved in
1964.
The endorsement came on the same day
that Obama was named Out's “Ally of the Year,” making him
the first sitting U.S. president to appear on the cover of an LGBT
title.
(Related: Out
names Obama its 'Ally of the Year.')
In an email to supporters, Perkins said
that Obama is “pushing an agenda even more radical than Mayor
Annise Parker's bathroom ordinance!” A reference to an LGBT
protections law repealed by Houston voters earlier this month.
(Related: Annise
Parker pledges to revive Houston LGBT protections.)
Perkins said that the Equality Act
makes the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) “look like a
conservative bill.”
“Under [Democrats'] Employment
Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), profits give way to political
correctness, as radicals impose their warped view of sexuality on
every daycare, school administrator and business across America. The
Equality Act is so expansive it makes ENDA look like a conservative
bill!” Perkins said without providing specifics.