The Arizona law group challenging state
LGBT protections laws said in a statement this week that passage of
the Equality Act would make LGBT people “more equal than others.”
The Equality Act is a federal bill that
seeks to prohibit discrimination against people who identify as
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. It was re-introduced on
Wednesday.
(Related: Pete
Buttigieg endorses LGBT protections bill Equality Act.)
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)
has defended a number of business owners who refuse to serve LGBT
people.
In a statement released after the
re-introduction of the Equality Act, ADF senior attorney Kristen
Waggoner called the legislation “bad news for everyone, and no
token carve-outs or religious exemptions can relieve the array of
wrongs advanced by the Equality Act.”
“Forced equality of a false reality
is not the American way, and it should not become the American way.
Long ago, George Orwell poignantly rejected the idea that 'some
citizens are more equal than others.' Congress should do no less: It
should reject the Equality Act and protect women’s privacy and
support equal opportunity for women. The federal government should
not turn the clock back on women. We should encourage our
representatives to oppose the so-called “Equality Act” and
instead support true diversity, tolerance and freedom,” she added.
ADF has represented bakers and florists
who argue their faith does not allow them to serve LGBT people.