At this point, Republicans need purpose. With their tax giveaway to the rich complete, a mesmerizing Russia investigation that they want nothing to do with and a commander in chief who announces trade wars and bilateral thermonuclear talks on a whim, Republicans are in a desperate way. Time to resurrect the good ol' days when hating on LGBTQ Americans was the lynchpin to turning out their base. Leave it to Utah Sen. Mike Lee for a nostalgic return to the GOP's anti-gay days of glory with the reintroduction of the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA). It's a glorified "license to discriminate" bill targeted directly at same-sex marriage. Think Progress's Zack Ford writes:
FADA singles out a specific set of conservative beliefs for special dispensation to discriminate: those who oppose same-sex marriage and those who oppose sex outside of marriage. The bill defines these privileges as such:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Federal Government shall not take any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that such person speaks, or acts, in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief, or moral conviction, that —
(1) marriage is or should be recognized as a union of—
(A) one man and one woman;
(B) two individuals as recognized under Federal law; or
(2) sexual relations outside marriage are improper.
The language here is fairly insidious. A person who is held accountable for treating others unfairly because they oppose their same-sex relationship or their decision to engage in premarital sex would be considered a victim of “discriminatory action.” They would be entitled to cite FADA as a defense that they should not be in any way punished for their own discriminatory actions.
Exactly, because people who oppose same-sex marriage are the real victims here.
Except that the ACLU has a list illuminating all the ways the supposed “victims” here will be empowered to discriminate against people they find morally inadequate. “This bill opens the door to unprecedented taxpayer funded discrimination against LGBT people,” writes the ACLU.
FADA was introduced in both chambers of Congress in 2015 and got a hearing in the House. Sen. Lee introduced it this week with 21 cosponsors, including Sens. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Orrin Hatch. After Trump was elected in 2016, Republicans expressed hope that they could finally put FADA on the desk of a president who would sign it.
As a presidential candidate, Trump indicated that he would sign the measure if it were sent to his desk, saying that it would "protect the deeply held religious beliefs of Catholics and the beliefs of Americans of all faiths."