In an op-ed, Gregory Angelo, the former
president of the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), a conservative group
that advocates for LGBT rights, said that gay Americans should oppose
the Equality Act.
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.)
Writing at The
Washington Examiner, Angelo claimed that the legislation was
not needed because the free market had “organically” reduced such
discrimination in the workplace.
“Don't be fooled by the name: The
Equality Act is legislation that would compromise American civil
rights and religious liberty as we know it,” Angelo wrote. “All
reasonable Americans, especially gay Americans who support pluralism
and tolerance, should oppose it.”
“In 1975, when it was first
introduced in Congress, this legislation was certainly more needed
and relevant. At the time, gay Americans faced prejudice at a far
more pervasive rate than they do today. In the 44 years since,
without any federal legislative coercion, corporate America has taken
the lead, developing organic policies that respect lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender employees. This is the free market at work
in all its glory, and it offers a far more promising path than this
flawed legislation.”
While many large corporations have
developed such policies, there were external forces from lawsuits,
state LGBT protections, and activists nudging the companies to alter
their policies.
Angelo added that the legislation would
be bad for small businesses.
“It would put the nonprofit status of
religious charities at risk; it would force mom-and-pop businesses to
participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies; and it would flout
bedrock principles that have served as the foundation of the American
experience for centuries,” he wrote.