One month ago today, we awoke to the news that 49 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans had been brutally murdered in Orlando, Florida. It was a stark and painful illustration of both the violence faced by LGBT Americans every day and the fact that our community is still relegated to second-class legal status in far too many corners of our country, including Michigan.
Today, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing on the so-called First Amendment Defense Act (FADA). In 2016, it is hard to fathom that a congressional committee would give serious consideration to legislation that seeks to license state-sanctioned discrimination under the guise of religious liberty and it is unconscionable that the committee has chosen to do so only one month after the most deadly anti-LGBT hate crime in our country's history. I write to you today to ask that each of you oppose FADA and join Equality Michigan in opposition to any legislative measure that would sanction anti-LGBT discrimination.
July 12, 2016