Faithwire
  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • SCOTUS
  • Life
  • Religious Liberty
  • News
  • Politics
  • Faith
  • Opinion

Is Trump’s Religious Liberty Executive Order Really Dead? LGBTQ Rights Battle Could Be Set to Heat Up

Photo by Anik Rahman/Getty Images
Photo by Anik Rahman/Getty Images
Share Tweet
By Billy Hallowell
Editor

February 27, 2017

There’s been no shortage of speculation over a purported plan by the White House to release an executive order addressing the balance between religious liberty and gay rights.

And now a former member of President Donald Trump’s transition team is claiming that the order — which some assumed was dead — could end up coming down the pike in an amended form. But before we dive into that, let’s establish some background.

Debate first raged in early February when a draft of an order the Trump administration was reportedly considering was leaked to the press. The central premise of the draft was that the government wouldn’t force organizations or people to engage in activities that would “violate their conscience,” the Huffington Post reported.

READ: Carrie Underwood and Her Baby Son Sing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ in Absolutely Awesome Instagram Clip

Titled, “Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom,” the proposal would have provided protections for various religious groups — shields that would have riled some, considering that it would have potentially impacted Christian adoption agencies, and employee health benefits when it came to issues like abortion and birth control, among other issues.

The Nation warned that the executive order would “legalize discrimination,” and wrote the following about the measure:

The four-page draft order, a copy of which is currently circulating among federal staff and advocacy organizations, construes religious organizations so broadly that it covers “any organization, including closely held for-profit corporations,” and protects “religious freedom” in every walk of life: “when providing social services, education, or healthcare; earning a living, seeking a job, or employing others; receiving government grants or contracts; or otherwise participating in the marketplace, the public square, or interfacing with Federal, State or local governments.”

But fears and debate over the purported executive order tempered a bit after reports indicated that Trump had backed away from the measure, with the president openly pledging to uphold protections for the LGBTQ community that were put in place by Obama in 2014; these provisions impact workers affiliated with federal contractors, as Politico reported.

That said, the Huffington Post noted on Sunday that former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell — who also served as domestic policy chair of Trump’s transition team — recently said that the religious freedom order might not be as dead as some assumed.

In fact, Blackwell said that people affiliated with the White House are “in the process of redrafting it.”

“In the final analysis, what we want is an executive order that will meet the scrutiny of the judicial process,” Blackwell told SiriusXM Progress. “If there is no executive order, that will disappoint (social conservatives). But a good executive order will not. So we’re still in the process.”

He continued, “I think small business owners who hold a religious belief that believes that traditional marriage is between one man and one woman should not have their religious liberty trampled upon. I would imagine that that will be, strongly and clearly, the anchor concept (of the order).”

Whether or not this comes to fruition remains to be seen, though social conservatives have been clamoring for more protections, particularly for wedding-related businesses owned by Christians who oppose same-sex nuptials.

(H/T: Huffington Post)

—

Other Must-Read Stories:

– U.S. Senate Chaplain Delivers Pointed Church-State History Lesson

– Watch How a Simple Act of Love Can Change – and Literally SAVE – a Life

– Carrie Underwood and Her Baby Son Sing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ in Absolutely Awesome Instagram Clip

– ‘It…Saved Our Marriage’: Famous Christian Singer’s Wife Reveals What Kept the Couple Together

– The 6 Verses in Book of Revelation That Have Sparked Quite a Debate About Jesus’ Biblical Return

 

Latest

  • Entertainment

    Blac Chyna Quits OnlyFans, Changes Lifestyle After Becoming Christian: ‘Let Me Let God Lead Me’

  • Faith

    UK Preacher Reported as Terrorist After ‘Disturbing’ ‘Misgendering’ Arrest Wins BIG After Legal Nightmare

  • Faith

    ‘Against Our Christian Beliefs’: NHL Brothers Refuse to Wear LGBT Pride Sweaters

  • News

    Fox News Reporter Hugs Son Live on Air as He Flees School Shooting She Was Covering

  • News

    ‘I Can No Longer Stand on the Sidelines’: After Horrific Shooting, Denver Superintendent Brings Cops Back to Schools in Bold Statement


Sponsored
Sponsored

Newsletter
Signup

Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Blac Chyna Quits OnlyFans, Changes Lifestyle After Becoming Christian: ‘Let Me Let God Lead Me’
  • UK Preacher Reported as Terrorist After ‘Disturbing’ ‘Misgendering’ Arrest Wins BIG After Legal Nightmare
  • ‘Against Our Christian Beliefs’: NHL Brothers Refuse to Wear LGBT Pride Sweaters
  • Fox News Reporter Hugs Son Live on Air as He Flees School Shooting She Was Covering
  • ‘I Can No Longer Stand on the Sidelines’: After Horrific Shooting, Denver Superintendent Brings Cops Back to Schools in Bold Statement

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016

Categories

  • Christian Persecution
  • Coronavirus
  • culture
  • Culture
  • Entertainment
  • Faith
  • Faith
  • Family
  • George Floyd
  • Go!
  • Israel
  • Life
  • Life
  • Lifestyle
  • Media
  • Men
  • Mission Haiti
  • News
  • News
  • Opinion
  • P.O.V
  • Politics
  • Politics
  • Roe
  • Sponsored
  • Sports
  • Virtue
  • Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Navigation

  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.

Newsletter Signup

Do you want to read
more articles like this?