HR 5: The (In)Equality Act — EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO STOP IT, The Existential Threat to Families and Faith Communities

(Ryan DeLarme) The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was created to end discrimination against individuals based on the innate and immutable characteristics of race, color, nationality, and gender. The “Equality Act” of 2021 proposes far-reaching changes to the Civil Rights Act that would actually threaten religious liberty, free speech, parental rights, and the privacy/safety of young women and girls.

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by Ryan DeLarme, April 2nd, 2021

It’s not about civil liberties, it’s not about combating inequality, it’s about control.

The Equality Act, or H.R. 5, was reintroduced in 2021 after failing to obtain the necessary Senate votes in 2019 under the Trump administration. The proposed changes under H.R. 5 would erase biological reality and actually reduce protections against discrimination contrary to Congress’s alleged intent.

Since the inauguration, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have made it clear that they intend to get this bill passed, and it has already cleared the House of Representatives. The bill is currently pending in the United States Senate,  if passed, this is what the bill would do:

Redefine Sex To Include “Sexual Orientation” and “Gender Identity”

HR 5 would add “sexual orientation and gender identity” to the term “sex” throughout the Civil Rights Act. Therefore, “sex” would no longer be defined as it has for millennia as the objective biological reality of being male or female. Instead, it would include the societally derived concepts of sexual orientation or gender identity as being equal to and interchangeable with sex, thereby overriding the very nature of “sex” in the law.

Require Owners of All Establishments Open to The Public to Comply

HR 5 would expand the definition of “public accommodations” required to comply with this new definition of “sex” to include: “any establishment that provides a good, service, or program, including a store, shopping center, online retailer or service provider, salon, bank, gas station, food bank, service or care center, shelter, travel agency, or funeral parlor, or establishment that provides health care, accounting, or legal services.” It would also include a “stadium or other places of or establishment that provides . . . recreation, exercise, . . . public gathering, or public display.” This would readily include facilities faith-based organizations use for public gatherings or for sports or recreational activities for children.

Force Faith-Based Organizations to Hire Employees Who Do Not Share Their Beliefs

Owners and employers of virtually all establishments open to the public would have to ensure that hiring policies, dress codes, codes of conduct, promotions, and disciplinary actions do not have even the appearance of treating someone differently because they are or are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. That includes churches and faith-based non-profits having to hire people who do not share their beliefs. In addition, property owners would have to ensure that all users of their property comply with these rules.

Threaten Religious Freedom and Free Speech

Evincing a blatant hostility toward religion, HR 5 would explicitly remove the protections of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.) as a defense to a claim covered by HR 5 or as a basis for challenging its enforcement. Faith-based organizations would be compelled to, e.g., adjust their programs, open up their privacy facilities to transgender (opposite-sex) persons, and revise employment policies, or be subject to liability. HR 5 would also instigate public schools to adopt policies that compel children and adults, contrary to their sincerely held beliefs or biological reality, to refer to other students or employees as a member of the opposite sex if that is how he or she identifies.

Require All Organizations Open to the Public to Open Up Their Bathrooms

HR 5 would require that schools, workplaces, and all establishments falling under the expanded definition of “public accommodations” to permit biological males who subjectively identify as females to use shared privacy facilities (restrooms, locker rooms and dressing rooms) set aside for females, and vice versa. Women and children who use these facilities would surrender their right to privacy and be placed at increased risk for harassment or assault by men who claim to identify as women.

Undermine Parental Rights and Instruction

By requiring that all private facilities in schools be open to members of the opposite sex if they self-identify as another sex, HR 5 would undermine parental rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children. Values of modesty and privacy would be contradicted by school officials who require that children accept the presence of an opposite-sex classmate in their restroom, locker room, or shower. Children would be required to accept that their female classmates are actually male or male classmates are actually female, contradicting their parents’ instruction concerning the binary nature of sex. HR 5 would also likely lead to universal instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity as normative, further contradicting parental teaching about the created nature of men and women and human sexuality.

Force Health Care Providers to Provide Abortions, Gender Transition Treatments

Individuals and organizations who provide health care would be prohibited from refusing to perform abortions, “gender-affirming” surgeries, or any procedures requested by LGBT patients on the basis that it violates the provider’s religious beliefs. Because of the breadth of the “public accommodations” definition, every health care professional, even those who are not part of an organization, would be required to provide such services regardless of their religiously-based objections, or otherwise face liability.

Jeopardize Girls’ and Women’s Athletic and Educational Opportunities

HR 5 would require that sex-separate athletics be available based upon how students self-identify, instead of their biological sex. This would force girls and women to compete for athletic opportunities and scholarships against males who have physical advantages that cannot be overcome by cross-sex hormones and can create significant risks of injury for girls and women.

Inevitably Threaten Tax-Exempt Status for Faith-Based Organizations

While not explicitly included in HR5, faith-based organizations that refuse to comply with its redefinition of sex could face loss of their tax-exempt status. Once the expanded definition of sex is enshrined in the Civil Rights Act it would trigger additional statutory and regulatory actions designed to enforce the law. It is foreseeable that these additional actions would result in denial of tax-exempt status to organizations that violate the Act.

CALL TO ACTION

A U.S. Senate committee hearing is scheduled for this Wednesday, March 17, and leaders in the Senate have declared their intent to move this bill to a full Senate vote quickly. It is imperative that pastors and faith leaders take immediate strategic action to stop its passage. Here is what you should do:

• Numbers matter to politicians. Leaders of large churches or of pastor associations or faith-based movements should contact your United States Senators to request a meeting to discuss the threat HR 5 poses to your organization and to parents, students, medical professionals, and business owners within your community.

• Pastors and leaders should notify other pastors, associations of pastors, or faith-based groups of the threat and invite them to join in preparing a joint letter informing your U.S. Senators of your opposition to HR 5 and urging them to vote “No” on this bill.

• If not part of a pastors’ association or larger group, send a letter on behalf of your church via email and U.S. mail to your U.S. Senators informing them of the harms of this bill and asking them to vote against it.

• Educate your congregation from the pulpit on the threats posed by HR 5 and encourage your congregants to contact their U.S. Senators with letters, emails, and calls urging them to vote “No” to this bill.

The above information was put together by The Child & Parental Rights Campaign, Inc. a non-partisan not-for-profit public interest law firm founded to protect the well-being of children and defend parental rights against the harms of gender identity ideology. Their attorneys stand ready to assist with additional information and letter preperation. You can visit their website at: www.childparentrights.org, contact via phone at 770.448.4525, or [email protected].

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