How to Think About Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Policies and Religious Freedom

Feb 14, 2017 by Jill

by Ryan Anderson, The Heritage Foundation:

Current proposals to create new LGBT protections with varying types of religious exemptions will not result in what advocates claim is “Fairness for All.” Instead, they will penalize many Americans who believe that we are created male and female and that male and female are created for each other—convictions that the Supreme Court of the United States, in Obergefell v. Hodges, recognized are held “in good faith by reasonable and sincere people here and throughout the world.” There is a better way to think about the concerns animating these new policy proposals and the best solutions. It is one that does not exclude the idea of more tailored policies to prevent the mistreatment of people who identify as LGBT and at the same time would leave all Americans—not just the lucky few who are sufficiently well-connected to be exempted from “sexual orientation and gender identity” (SOGI) laws—free to act on their good-faith convictions.

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