The Change We Want To Make
We advocate for the United States Congress to require that restrict religious exemptions to undergo federal review before receiving approval to be enacted. Laws that put groups of people at a disparity and prevent equal treatment must not be allowed to become mandated by States. For further clarification, this appeal would not prohibit religious exemption laws, but instead monitor whether they abide by the Constitution or inhibit it. We also ask that Congress review pre-existing laws to determine whether they actually serve the federal government’s best interest of granting equal protection towards all citizens.
The Supreme Court has interpreted the Free Exercise Clause under the phrase that
“the freedom to believe is absolute, the freedom to act on those beliefs is not”. It is religious exemption laws that still legally enable discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community in the United States. A group of people are being marginalized and denied access to services and resources because their existence allegedly violates the religious beliefs of others. While the right to practice religion freely and without persecution has been established under the First Amendment, religious exemptions laws have been used to place non-hetero and non-cisgendered individuals at a disparity compared to others. The specific laws that target the LGBTQIA+ community include:
Ⅰ. The permission for medical professionals to deny clients based on their sexuality or gender identity
Ⅱ. The ability for adoption services to deny service to same sex couples or LGBTQIA+ clients
Ⅲ. Businesses are allowed to deny service to clients based on their sexuality or gender identity
Prohibiting these laws do not deny the right to freely practice religion but rather ensures that abuses against the equality of others is not permitted.
The Supreme Court has interpreted the Free Exercise Clause under the phrase that
“the freedom to believe is absolute, the freedom to act on those beliefs is not”. It is religious exemption laws that still legally enable discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community in the United States. A group of people are being marginalized and denied access to services and resources because their existence allegedly violates the religious beliefs of others. While the right to practice religion freely and without persecution has been established under the First Amendment, religious exemptions laws have been used to place non-hetero and non-cisgendered individuals at a disparity compared to others. The specific laws that target the LGBTQIA+ community include:
Ⅰ. The permission for medical professionals to deny clients based on their sexuality or gender identity
Ⅱ. The ability for adoption services to deny service to same sex couples or LGBTQIA+ clients
Ⅲ. Businesses are allowed to deny service to clients based on their sexuality or gender identity
Prohibiting these laws do not deny the right to freely practice religion but rather ensures that abuses against the equality of others is not permitted.
Photo used under Creative Commons from missbutterflies