Photo: Barack Obama. Credit: Christopher Dilts/Obama for America.
A coalition of 130 LGBT or allied organizations is urging President Obama to rescind a memo from George W. Bush’s administration that they claim has been used to justify taxpayer-funded discrimination.
In a letter addressed to Obama, the groups say the memo in question, which was issued in 2007 by the Office of Legal Counsel, “reaches the erroneous and dangerous conclusion that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) provides a blanket override of a statutory nondiscrimination provision.”
Signatories of the letter include Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, the Human Rights Campaign, and a variety of religious and civil rights groups.
“RFRA was intended to provide protection for free exercise rights, applying strict scrutiny, on a case-by-case basis, to federal laws that substantially burden religious exercise,” the coalition’s letter reads. “RFRA was not intended to create blanket exemptions to laws that protect against discrimination. Yet, in contrast to this, the OLC Memo relies on flawed legal analysis and wrongly asserts that RFRA is ‘reasonably construed to require’ a federal agency to categorically exempt a religiously affiliated organization from a grant program’s explicit statutory nondiscrimination provision, thus permitting the grantee to discriminate in hiring with taxpayer funds without regard to the government’s compelling interest in prohibiting such discrimination.”
One of the ramifications of the Bush-era OLC memo is that it is being used to permit religiously-affiliated organizations that receive Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) funds to use religion as one criterion when hiring employees, despite VAWA’s clear prohibitions against such discrimination. The coalition also says the memo’s broad interpretation is being used to undercut Obama’s executive order barring contractors from discriminating LGBT workers. Lastly, the coalition argues, some grantees and contractors are trying to extend the memo’s reach beyond hiring, citing the memo to create a blanket exemption justifying their refusal to provide certain services or referrals, such as medical care for unaccompanied immigrant children who have suffered sexual abuse.
“The Bush-era policy is based on faulty legal assumptions and is being used to put the government in the business of funding discrimination,” said David Stacy, government affairs director for the Human Rights Campaign. “By rescinding this flawed memo, President Obama can make clear that taxpayer money cannot be used for unjust discrimination — period. The President has an unprecedented legacy of advancing fairness and equality for the LGBT community, and with the limited time he has remaining in office, we urge him to solidify that legacy by taking action on this critically important issue.”
The coalition concluded its letter asking Obama to carefully review and correct the interpretation of and extent to which RFRA applies.
“Contrary to the conclusion in the OLC Memo, RFRA is not a tool to categorically override statutory protections against religious hiring discrimination,” the groups write. “Nor does it create an absolute free exercise right — without regard to countervailing compelling interests, as required by RFRA — to receive government grants without complying with applicable regulations that protect taxpayers and participants in federally funded programs. We accordingly request that the OLC Memo be reviewed and its erroneous and dangerous interpretation of RFRA be reconsidered as soon as possible.”
Several corporate sponsors of San Francisco Pride, including beer giant Anheuser-Busch, have pulled their funding for the celebration's annual festivities.
Over the past four weeks, the companies have informed organizers of San Francisco Pride that they would not be able to support 2025 Pride, claiming a lack of funds as the reason.
None of the companies cited the political climate, but Suzanne Ford, the executive director of San Francisco Pride, said that it was "very abnormal" for several multi-year sponsors to drop their support.
"I just interpreted that companies are making decisions that at this time it’s not good to be sponsoring Pride," Ford told SFGATE magazine, alluding to decisions by several major corporations to abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
A page touting Golden Girls actress Bea Arthur's military service during World War II was reportedly scrubbed from the U.S. Department of Defense website as part of the Trump administration's overzealous efforts to purge anything related to diversity or LGBTQ identity.
Last week, X user @swiftillery noted that the article on Arthur -- first published in October 2021 -- had been removed from the Defense Department website.
According to The Advocate, the Internet Archive documented a "404 -- Page Not Found" message at the URL where the article had been housed.
The Pentagon will start forcibly discharging transgender service members within 60 days unless an individual can obtain a special waiver to allow them to continue serving.
On Wednesday, February 26, the Pentagon issued a policy memo outlining how the U.S. Department of Defense is complying with an executive order by President Trump to prohibit transgender individuals from serving openly in the U.S. military.
Trump's executive order claims that allowing transgender people to serve in the Armed Forces threatens military readiness and undermines unit cohesion.
It contradicts a 2016 RAND Corporation study, commissioned by the Pentagon, that found allowing transgender members to serve openly had no negative impact on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness, or readiness.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.