U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R) answers questions during a press conference at the Department of Justice on March 2, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Sessions Issues Blatant 'License to Discriminate' With 'Religious Freedom' Memo
The new DOJ policy directive "will enable systemic, government-wide discrimination that will have a devastating impact on LGBTQ people and their families," rights groups said
Attorney General Jeff Sessions intensified the Trump administration's "all-out assault on LGBTQ people" Friday by issuing a "religious freedom" directive to federal agencies that rights groups said would "categorize LGBTQ Americans as second-class citizens who are not equal under the law."
" Donald Trump and Mike Pence have proven they will stop at nothing to target the LGBTQ community and drag our nation backwards. We will fight them every step of the way."
--Chad Griffin, Human Rights CampaignOutlined in a 25-page memo (pdf), the directive lays out the White House's "muscular view of religious freedom" first expressed in an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in May. The memo details 20 "principles of religious liberty" to which all federal agencies will be expected to adhere.
"Under the new policy, a claim of a violation of religious freedom would be enough to override concerns for the civil rights of LGBT people and anti-discrimination protections for women and others," the Associated Press noted. "The guidelines are so sweeping that experts on religious liberty are calling them a legal powder-keg that could prompt wide-ranging lawsuits against the government."
In crafting the policy guidance, the Department of Justice (DOJ) consulted extensively with "religious and political groups with a history of opposing protections for LGBT people," but not "specifically" with any LGBTQ rights organizations, Buzzfeed reported on Friday.
Unsurprisingly, the DOJ's directive was met with effusive praise by right-wing lawmakers and religious organizations, and fierce condemnation by civil rights groups that argue the Sessions memo constitutes little more than a "license to discriminate" against the LGBTQ community.
Chad Griffin, president of Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBTQ rights organization, said in a statement on Friday that the Sessions directive is a "blatant attempt to further Donald Trump's cynical and hateful agenda."
Justice Department policy as outlined in the new memo "will enable systemic, government-wide discrimination that will have a devastating impact on LGBTQ people and their families," Griffin concluded. "Donald Trump and [Vice President] Mike Pence have proven they will stop at nothing to target the LGBTQ community and drag our nation backwards. We will fight them every step of the way."
HRC argued in its press release that the Sessions directive would allow:
- Federal contractors to deny services to LGBTQ people.
- "Agencies receiving federal funding, and even their individual staff members, [to] refuse to provide services to LGBTQ children in crisis, or to place adoptive or foster children with a same-sex couple or transgender couple simply because of who they are."
- "A Social Security Administration employee [to] refuse to accept or process spousal or survivor benefits paperwork for a surviving same-sex spouse."
The new DOJ memo comes amid a flurry of policy moves by the Trump administration this week that will disproportionately affect women and the LGBTQ community, including a rollback of the federal birth control mandate and a reversal of government policy that protected transgender workers from discrimination.
In a statement on Friday, Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights, argued that the Sessions directive is "yet another mean-spirited attack against the LGBTQ community, people of color, and other minorities.
"Federal agencies, government contractors, and grant recipients should not be permitted to discriminate simply by citing a religious belief for doing so," Gupta concluded. "We urge the federal courts to reject the radical efforts by this administration to justify discrimination on the basis of religion. We are strengthened as a nation when we work to protect and balance the rights and dignity of all."
FINAL DAY! This is urgent.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Attorney General Jeff Sessions intensified the Trump administration's "all-out assault on LGBTQ people" Friday by issuing a "religious freedom" directive to federal agencies that rights groups said would "categorize LGBTQ Americans as second-class citizens who are not equal under the law."
" Donald Trump and Mike Pence have proven they will stop at nothing to target the LGBTQ community and drag our nation backwards. We will fight them every step of the way."
--Chad Griffin, Human Rights CampaignOutlined in a 25-page memo (pdf), the directive lays out the White House's "muscular view of religious freedom" first expressed in an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in May. The memo details 20 "principles of religious liberty" to which all federal agencies will be expected to adhere.
"Under the new policy, a claim of a violation of religious freedom would be enough to override concerns for the civil rights of LGBT people and anti-discrimination protections for women and others," the Associated Press noted. "The guidelines are so sweeping that experts on religious liberty are calling them a legal powder-keg that could prompt wide-ranging lawsuits against the government."
In crafting the policy guidance, the Department of Justice (DOJ) consulted extensively with "religious and political groups with a history of opposing protections for LGBT people," but not "specifically" with any LGBTQ rights organizations, Buzzfeed reported on Friday.
Unsurprisingly, the DOJ's directive was met with effusive praise by right-wing lawmakers and religious organizations, and fierce condemnation by civil rights groups that argue the Sessions memo constitutes little more than a "license to discriminate" against the LGBTQ community.
Chad Griffin, president of Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBTQ rights organization, said in a statement on Friday that the Sessions directive is a "blatant attempt to further Donald Trump's cynical and hateful agenda."
Justice Department policy as outlined in the new memo "will enable systemic, government-wide discrimination that will have a devastating impact on LGBTQ people and their families," Griffin concluded. "Donald Trump and [Vice President] Mike Pence have proven they will stop at nothing to target the LGBTQ community and drag our nation backwards. We will fight them every step of the way."
HRC argued in its press release that the Sessions directive would allow:
- Federal contractors to deny services to LGBTQ people.
- "Agencies receiving federal funding, and even their individual staff members, [to] refuse to provide services to LGBTQ children in crisis, or to place adoptive or foster children with a same-sex couple or transgender couple simply because of who they are."
- "A Social Security Administration employee [to] refuse to accept or process spousal or survivor benefits paperwork for a surviving same-sex spouse."
The new DOJ memo comes amid a flurry of policy moves by the Trump administration this week that will disproportionately affect women and the LGBTQ community, including a rollback of the federal birth control mandate and a reversal of government policy that protected transgender workers from discrimination.
In a statement on Friday, Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights, argued that the Sessions directive is "yet another mean-spirited attack against the LGBTQ community, people of color, and other minorities.
"Federal agencies, government contractors, and grant recipients should not be permitted to discriminate simply by citing a religious belief for doing so," Gupta concluded. "We urge the federal courts to reject the radical efforts by this administration to justify discrimination on the basis of religion. We are strengthened as a nation when we work to protect and balance the rights and dignity of all."
Attorney General Jeff Sessions intensified the Trump administration's "all-out assault on LGBTQ people" Friday by issuing a "religious freedom" directive to federal agencies that rights groups said would "categorize LGBTQ Americans as second-class citizens who are not equal under the law."
" Donald Trump and Mike Pence have proven they will stop at nothing to target the LGBTQ community and drag our nation backwards. We will fight them every step of the way."
--Chad Griffin, Human Rights CampaignOutlined in a 25-page memo (pdf), the directive lays out the White House's "muscular view of religious freedom" first expressed in an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in May. The memo details 20 "principles of religious liberty" to which all federal agencies will be expected to adhere.
"Under the new policy, a claim of a violation of religious freedom would be enough to override concerns for the civil rights of LGBT people and anti-discrimination protections for women and others," the Associated Press noted. "The guidelines are so sweeping that experts on religious liberty are calling them a legal powder-keg that could prompt wide-ranging lawsuits against the government."
In crafting the policy guidance, the Department of Justice (DOJ) consulted extensively with "religious and political groups with a history of opposing protections for LGBT people," but not "specifically" with any LGBTQ rights organizations, Buzzfeed reported on Friday.
Unsurprisingly, the DOJ's directive was met with effusive praise by right-wing lawmakers and religious organizations, and fierce condemnation by civil rights groups that argue the Sessions memo constitutes little more than a "license to discriminate" against the LGBTQ community.
Chad Griffin, president of Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBTQ rights organization, said in a statement on Friday that the Sessions directive is a "blatant attempt to further Donald Trump's cynical and hateful agenda."
Justice Department policy as outlined in the new memo "will enable systemic, government-wide discrimination that will have a devastating impact on LGBTQ people and their families," Griffin concluded. "Donald Trump and [Vice President] Mike Pence have proven they will stop at nothing to target the LGBTQ community and drag our nation backwards. We will fight them every step of the way."
HRC argued in its press release that the Sessions directive would allow:
- Federal contractors to deny services to LGBTQ people.
- "Agencies receiving federal funding, and even their individual staff members, [to] refuse to provide services to LGBTQ children in crisis, or to place adoptive or foster children with a same-sex couple or transgender couple simply because of who they are."
- "A Social Security Administration employee [to] refuse to accept or process spousal or survivor benefits paperwork for a surviving same-sex spouse."
The new DOJ memo comes amid a flurry of policy moves by the Trump administration this week that will disproportionately affect women and the LGBTQ community, including a rollback of the federal birth control mandate and a reversal of government policy that protected transgender workers from discrimination.
In a statement on Friday, Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights, argued that the Sessions directive is "yet another mean-spirited attack against the LGBTQ community, people of color, and other minorities.
"Federal agencies, government contractors, and grant recipients should not be permitted to discriminate simply by citing a religious belief for doing so," Gupta concluded. "We urge the federal courts to reject the radical efforts by this administration to justify discrimination on the basis of religion. We are strengthened as a nation when we work to protect and balance the rights and dignity of all."