A U.S. House bill that purports to offer employment protection for gays and lesbians, as well as "transgender" individuals, would also trump the rights of religious employers.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would bar employers from making decisions based on the "actual or perceived" sexual orientation or gender identity of employees or job applicants.
Stuart Ishimaru, acting chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, testified before the House Education and Labor Committee today.
"Job applicants and employees who are talented, fully qualified and hardworking are denied jobs, fired or otherwise discriminated against in the workplace," he said, "simply because they happen to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender."
Only one conservative voice was allowed on the panel: Craig Parshall, senior vice president and general counsel of National Religious Broadcasters.
"ENDA, if passed into law would impose a substantial and crippling burden on religious organizations," he said. "In the cases I reviewed recently where there's a clash between homosexual rights -- sexual orientation being protected under discrimination laws on one hand and Christian religious liberties on the other -- Christian liberties lose and the homosexual rights win."
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Ask your lawmakers to oppose the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
