Religious Freedom Forfeit in Obama’s LGBT Exec Order
By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Worthy News)– President Barack Obama’s latest executive order bars employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity among businesses that have federal contracts, according to The Christian Post.
But Peter Sprigg, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council, said Obama has ordered employers to put aside their principles in the name of political correctness.
“This level of coercion is nothing less than viewpoint blackmail that bullies into silence every contractor and subcontractor who has moral objections to homosexual behavior. This order gives activists a license to challenge their employers and, expose those employers to threats of costly legal proceedings and the potential of jeopardizing future contracts.”
Obama’s order, however, retains certain exceptions to the anti-discrimination mandate.
“President Obama’s Executive Order does not allow for any exemption beyond the one added by Executive Order 13279, issued by President George W. Bush, which permits religiously affiliated contractors to favor individuals of a particular religion when making employment decisions,” according to a White House web page.
“In addition, under the First Amendment, religious entities are permitted to make employment decisions about their ministers as they see fit.”