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<\/p>\nAttorney General Jeff Sessions Issues Broad \u2018Religious Freedom\u2019 Guidance That Should Concern All LGBT Americans<\/b><\/p>\n
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday issued broad \u201creligious freedom\u201d guidance which appears intended to undermine LGBT rights. The memo comes a day after Sessions rescinded a policy <\/a>protecting transgender people from discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.<\/p>\n Buzzfeed News reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n The guidance says the government cannot unduly burden people or certain businesses from practicing their faith, noting, \u201cThe free exercise of religion includes the right to act or abstain from action in accordance with one\u2019s religious beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n The policy does not create new law, but rather interprets how the government should construe the Constitution and existing federal law. It comes on the heels of the Justice Department\u00a0weighing in<\/a>\u00a0on a religious liberty case, in which lawyers under Sessions argued in a brief to the US Supreme Court that a Christian baker had a First Amendment right to deny a gay<\/a> couple<\/a> a cake for their wedding.<\/p>\n The guidance memo, which avoided mentioning pending cases by name but did refer to the ongoing controversy over contraception coverage in Obamacare, directs federal agencies to observe\u00a020 \u201cprinciples of religious liberty.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Among them, it says that religious employers are entitled to hire only workers whose beliefs and conduct are \u201cconsistent with the employer\u2019s\u2019 religious beliefs\u201d \u2014 a directive adopted under former President George W. Bush \u2014 and that some of the legal principles extend \u201cnot just to individuals, but also to organizations, associations, and at least some for-profit corporations.\u201d<\/p>\n The US Department of Health and Human Services on Friday\u00a0announced new rules<\/a>\u00a0that will allow employers with a \u201cmoral\u201d or \u201creligious\u201d objection to stop covering contraception for employees.<\/p>\n Writes The Washington Blade<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cOur freedom as citizens has always been inextricably linked with our religious freedom as a people,\u201d Sessions said. \u201cIt has protected both the freedom to worship and the freedom not to believe. Every American has a right to believe, worship, and exercise their faith. The protections for this right, enshrined in our Constitution and laws, serve to declare and protect this important part of our heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n A\u00a0background memo<\/a>\u00a0accompanying the new guidance insists the move \u201cdoes not authorize anyone to discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex<\/a>, sexual orientation, or gender identity in violation of federal law or change existing federal and state protections.\u201d<\/p>\n But key portions of the memos should be troubling to proponents of LGBT rights. The memo to agencies allows individuals to act or abstain from action according to their religious beliefs and prohibits the government from targeting religious individuals and organizations for acting on their beliefs.<\/p>\n The memo asserts 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act applies not just to people, but organizations and some for-profit companies. Further, the guidance says RFRA doesn\u2019t permit the federal government to second-guess a religious belief and asserts the strict scrutiny standard under the law is \u201cexceptionally demanding.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the memos, to administrative agencies <\/a>and Justice Department attorneys<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post Attorney General Jeff Sessions Issues Broad \u2018Religious Freedom\u2019 Guidance That Should Concern All LGBT Americans<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n