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GOP Congressman Would Kill
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Rep. Charles Canady

Washington, D.C.-- On Saturday's edition of C-SPAN's Washington Journal, Religious Liberty Protection Act (RLPA) sponsor Congressman Charles Canady, R-Fla., revealed why the Religious Liberty Protection Act in its current form is a threat to local civil rights laws that bar discrimination based on sexual orientation in 11 states and 101 municipalities, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

"I believe there are contexts in which this bill could result in a claimant who is defending against the application of a local gay rights ordinance, to raise a claim that would be successful because compliance with that ordinance was a violation of the free exercise of religion," Canady told Washington Journal host George Hager.

"Canady's comments reveal how this bill in its current form might be used as a club against state and local ordinances protecting gay and lesbian Americans from discrimination," said HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg. "All discrimination is wrong, and we should not allow one form of discrimination to justify another."

"Until now, the far right has obfuscated their true intentions and used stealth tactics to pass this bill," said Stachelberg. "Finally, Canady has explicitly acknowledged that this bill could be used to override hard won civil rights gains."

Last Thursday, the House passed the Religious Liberty Protection Act (RLPA) and defeated a substitute bill that would have closed a dangerous loophole in RLPA that could threaten civil rights.

A substitute bill sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., was defeated in the House 190 to 234. The Nadler bill would have clarified RLPA by preventing an individual from using religious beliefs to undermine local or state civil rights statutes.

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Without the Nadler language the Religious Liberty Protection passed the House 306 to 118.

RLPA would prohibit any state or local law from placing a "substantial burden" on a "person's religious exercise" even if the rule is not designed to infringe on a person's religious beliefs.

The problem is, the bill currently would allow state and local anti-discrimination laws to be challenged by a person who claims that these laws violate his or her religious beliefs.

"If a local gay ordinance would force a church to hire a gay person when that was a violation of the tenets of that church or some other religious body, I think that this law would trump the gay rights ordinance," said Canady during his television appearance.

"This is a non-issue," said Stachelberg. "As Canady should well know, state and local civil rights laws have provisions that exempt churches and other religious organizations."

"There are other areas where the issue could come up where the answers are not as clear as to what exactly the result would be. This bill doesn't establish a particular result in particular cases. It establishes a balancing test and the answer in particular cases is going to depend on all the circumstances and facts in that particular context," added Canady.

"It is clear that the bill's sponsor acknowledges this bill creates a huge loophole where people can use religion to justify discrimination," said Stachelberg. "We will now shift our focus to the Senate and try to help craft a bill that properly balances both religious liberty and civil rights."

A recently enacted Texas measure signed into law by Gov. George W. Bush addressed this issue by making clear that an individual could not use a religious argument to ignore a state or local civil rights law.