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For Immediate Release
October 11, 2017
Contact: Laura Hoch
(202) 637-7661 / laura@lgbtbar.org
Statement of the National LGBT Bar Association (LGBT Bar), the Capital Area Muslim Bar Association (CAMBA), the Muslim Bar of New York (MuBANY), the National Bar Association (NBA), the New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association (NJMLA), and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) on the Last Week's 'Religious Freedom' Executive Order
Washington, DC – Following the October 6 guidance issued by the Trump Administration, the LGBT Bar, CAMBA, MuBANY, NBA, NJMLA, and NAPABA released a joint statement objecting to the so-called "religious freedom" order.
The guidance provides a license-to-discriminate under the guise of "religious freedom." Federal agencies, government employees, and contractors may all now cite religious beliefs as reason for discrimination. It ignores the importance of the Establishment Clause and essentially creates a "religious freedom" test for government agencies.
"The guise of 'religious freedom' is not fooling anyone," said D'Arcy Kemnitz, executive director of the National LGBT Bar Association. "This guidance provides for legalized discrimination on taxpayer dollars. No individual's rights and liberties should be stripped away in the name of another's religion."
The National LGBT Bar Association is a national association of lawyers, judges and other legal professionals, law students, activists, and affiliated lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender legal organizations. The association promotes justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBT community in all its diversity.
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