ENDA And Discrimination: What Side Are You On?

Did you know that lawmakers are pushing an effort to make it illegal to discriminate against gays in the workplace? The Employee Non-Discrimination Act, aka ENDA (H.R. 2015) is moving its ways through Congress.

PFLAG has prepared resources in support of this effort.

Find your House Member on the
PFLAG Take Action page.

Check out the PFLAG page on ENDA.

Would someone care to remind me why who we sleep with makes us qualified or unqualified for most jobs? Of course, there are those who want to keep it legal for firing someone just because they are gay. Take the American Family Association and the Family Research Council:

ENDA affords special protection to a group that is not disadvantaged.
The issue is not job discrimination: It is whether private businesses
will be forced by law to accommodate homosexual activists' attempts
to legitimize homosexual behavior.

The first "religious exemption" clause is very narrow and offers no
clear protection to church-related businesses: Religious schools or
charitable organizations, religious bookstores, or any business
affiliated with a church or denomination fall outside this narrow
definition, and could presumably be required to hire homosexual
applicants.

The second "religious exemption" clause fails to offer protection for
all hiring by church-related organizations or businesses. The
position of a teacher of religion at a church-related school would be
exempt, but, e.g., that of a biology teacher would not. Thus, most of
the teachers and staff at a religious school would be covered by
ENDA, which means that the church would be forced to hire homosexual
applicants for such positions-despite the fact that their lifestyle
would be in direct opposition to the religious beliefs of the
organization or company.

It is unlikely that the "religious exemption" included in the bill
would survive court challenge: Institutions that could be targeted
include religious summer camps, the Boy Scouts, Christian bookstores,
religious publishing houses, religious television and radio stations,
and any business with fifteen or more employees.

ENDA violates employers' and employees' Constitutional freedoms of
religion, speech and association. The proposed legislation would
prohibit employers from taking their most deeply held beliefs into
account when making hiring, management, and promotion decisions. This
would pose an unprecedented intrusion by the federal government into
people's lives.

ENDA would approvingly bring private behavior considered immoral by
many into the public square. By declaring that all sexual preferences
are equally valid, ENDA would change national policy supporting
marriage and family.


Take Action

Clearly, this is an enormous threat to the freedom of religion and
also places unfair burdens on businesses, which should be allowed to
make employment decisions based on their religious convictions and
business needs.

Urgent! Click here to contact your U.S. Representative. Ask him or
her to oppose the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 (ENDA)
H.R. 2015.

Thanks for caring enough to get involved. If you find our efforts
worthy, would you consider making a donation to help us continue?


Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder & Chairman
American Family Association