Religious freedom act = freedom to discriminate?
The religious freedom act (HB279) passed both the house and senate and is now on Beshear's desk. It says "that government shall not burden a person's or religious organization's freedom of religion; protect the right to act or refuse to act on religious grounds; specify that government shall prove by clear and convincing evidence prove a compelling governmental interest in establishing a burden on the freedom of religion; specify what constitutes a burden. " -http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/13RS/HB279.htm
Critics say that this will lead the way to trampling of civil liberties and allow discrimination in hiring and housing practices.
Freedom of religion is already protected in the US constitution so at best this is unneeded and at worst it will be used as a tool of discrimination - especially against LGBT folks.
The sad thing is, this law was introduced and supported by democrats!
I am going to contact Beshear and urge him to veto the bill. If you would like to do so as well, there is a contact form and phone numbers here - http://governor.ky.gov/Pages/contact.aspx.
