Editor:
Nathan Winters, former state legislator and current president of Wyoming Family Alliance which is affiliated with the anti-LGBTQ organization Focus on the Family, praised Sen. John Barrasso for his vote against the Respect for Marriage Act.
Winters obviously didn’t read the bill because he quoted what someone said about the bill and then used it as his argument that the bill is intolerant of religious belief. So here is what the bill actually says with regard to religious belief:
“SEC. 6. NO IMPACT ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND CONSCIENCE.
(a) In General.—Nothing in this Act, or any amendment made by this Act, shall be construed to diminish or abrogate a religious liberty or conscience protection otherwise available to an individual or organization under the Constitution of the United States or Federal law.
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(b) Goods Or Services.—Consistent with the First Amendment to the Constitution, nonprofit religious organizations, including churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, nondenominational ministries, interdenominational and ecumenical organizations, mission organizations, faith-based social agencies, religious educational institutions, and nonprofit entities whose principal purpose is the study, practice, or advancement of religion, and any employee of such an organization, shall not be required to provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage. Any refusal under this subsection to provide such services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges shall not create any civil claim or cause of action.”
Winters’ claim that the bill will very soon “drive people of faith who hold to the historic principles of their faiths out of the public square and out of business all-together” is a lie designed to turn Christians against the LGBTQ community. It is a lie designed to scare Christians into believing their religious liberty is somehow in jeopardy because same sex couples can enjoy the same rights and privileges as everyone else. The irony here is that while Winters cries that the Respect for Marriage Act is intolerant of religious belief, Christians are some of the most intolerant people in this country when it comes to the LGBTQ community.