Though President Donald Trump’s “religious-freedom” executive order Thursday didn’t contain a provision explicitly sanctioning anti-LGBT discrimination by the federal government, as it was rumored to, LGBTs and allies are still decrying the move as damaging.
The order, signed in the Rose Garden before scores of religious leaders who had gathered to mark the National Day of Prayer, significantly expands the political power of religious organizations, allowing them to endorse candidates and engage in other political activity. The order also instates a religious exemption for private employers to deny reproductive health care to workers.
Within minutes of the order’s unveiling, the American Civil Liberties Union announced it was gearing up to sue the federal government.
“The actions taken today are a broadside to our country’s long-standing commitment to the separation of church and state,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said. “Whether by executive order or through backroom deals, it’s clear that the Trump administration and Congressional leadership are using religion as a wedge to further divide the country and permit discrimination. We intend to file suit today.”
The order also instructs Attorney General Jeff Sessions to issue guidance to all federal agencies on “interpreting religious liberty protections in federal law.”
“This sweeping approach could result in an unprecedented expansion of religious exemptions affecting employment, services and programs,” Human Rights Campaign Legal Director Sarah Warbelow said in a statement. “Revisiting federal law, including regulations and policies, will almost certainly have significant implications for LGBTQ people. In essence, the executive order punts the question of how and where the administration will permit discrimination against LGBTQ people to Jeff Sessions, a man who has consistently denied LGBTQ people equality under the law.”
Regulations mandating equal hospital-visitation rules for LGBT people, LGBT nondiscrimination in federal housing and other Obama-era rules could be affected, Warbelow said. The move could also lead to the creation of new policies, such as the Social Security Administration or Department of Veterans Affairs restricting access to benefits for same-sex spouses, she added.
A leaked version of a proposed “religious-freedom” executive order has been floating for months. That document, which was again invoked this week as details were announced for the National Day of Prayer event, would have outright allowed federally funded entities to cite religious beliefs in hiring decisions and to decline services to the public if they would interfere with their religious beliefs, among other provisions.
Several protests were held in D.C. this week in the lead-up to Thursday’s order.
“Faced with broad opposition and resistance, Trump revised his executive order,” said National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell in a statement. “The LGBTQ community came out in full force against threats to sanction taxpayer-funded discrimination against our community, and Trump decided he wanted out of that fight. But today’s executive order still does damage to the fabric of our democracy by taking aim at one of our core principles: separation of church and state. And vast numbers of LGBTQ people, their loved ones and families will be impacted by allowing access to reproductive health care to be contingent on employers’ personal religious views. The LGBTQ community will not stand down. We will continue to forcefully challenge these injustices.”