Exposing the Equality Act for being misleading

By Robert Netzly, Op-ed contributor Monday, March 07, 2022

Undoubtedly, the motivation of businesses signing on to the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Business Coalition for the Equality Act is their desire to support their LGBT employees by creating safe, tolerant, diverse, and inclusive workplaces for all their employees. At Inspire, we seek to invest in companies that are a blessing to all their employees and community and applaud efforts to extend greater care and provisions for all classes. However, the Equality Act is a misleading piece of legislation that purports equality but contains provisions buried deep in its pages that specifically remove protections for women, children, and religious persons.

In our corporate engagement efforts, we have found that those who most defend their acceptance of The Equality Act are those who are most ignorant to what it actually contains.  But perhaps what’s even worse are those who acknowledge the risks but stay affiliated because it’s what their competitors are doing.

Under the H.R.5 Equality Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would be revised to expand the definition of sexual orientation and gender identity as new protected classes in the federal code. If implemented, this legislation would significantly threaten free speech, religious freedom, and harm the progress that women have made toward equal and safe treatment. People of any faith whose religious tradition teaches a historical narrative of marriage being between one man and one woman can legally be harassed, discriminated against, and even fired for those beliefs in the workplace. 

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If enacted, the H.R.5 “Equality Act” would further inequality and present significant harm in at least five groups:

1.     Employers and Workforce

• Require affirmation of same-sex marriage or risk being fired, sued, or shut down.
• Case Study: Alaska Airlines Fires Flight Attendants
• Abolish free speech by mandating the use of “preferred pronouns.” 
• Case Study: Virginia School Board Fires Teacher

2.     Healthcare & Medical Professionals 

• Require healthcare workers and pro-life healthcare providers to participate in and provide abortions.
• Case Study: ACLU Lawsuit Attempts[ES1] 
• Require hospitals and insurers to practice medicine according to transgender ideology. Such as providing and paying for hormone and sex-reassignment therapies against any moral or medical objections.
• Case Study: New Jersey Catholic Hospital[ES2] 

3.     Non-Profits & Religious Institutions

• Require homeless shelters that arrange their housing according to biological sex to remove these distinctions or be shut down.
• Case Study: Hope Center Raises Concerns for "Equal Access" Bill
• Require religious institutions to promote an unbiblical view of marriage and sexuality or be forced to shut down.
• Case Study: Texas Church Protest

4.     Women

• Create unfair advantages in women and girls’ athletics and education with the inclusion of allowing biological males to compete based on identity.
• Case Study: Trans Athletes Shake up Sports
• Require women to share private spaces with men.
• Case Study: California Prison Assaults

5.     Parents & Children

• Require schools to allow students to access bathrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex based on their identity.
• Case Study: North Carolina Teen Bathroom Assault
• Require parents to consent to dangerous transgender medicine in fear of losing parental rights. Treatments include puberty blockers at age 11, cross-sex hormones at age 16, and sex-reassignment surgery at age 18
• Case Study: Ohio Parents Lose Custody

Christians need to be the leaders in opposing discrimination and stand up for equality and human dignity for every person regardless of their age, race, ability, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity because every person is created by God and made in his image (Gen. 1:26-27).  And this is exactly why we, as Christian investors, must oppose The Equality Act or any other legislature that discriminates against people of faith, threatens unborn life, and undermines the common good. 

The Equality Act is nefarious legislation that harms life and isolates people under the guise of equality and must be exposed and opposed. Many organizations are banding together to combat this dangerous legislation including The Family Research Council, The USCCB (United States Council of Catholic Bishops), The Alliance Defending Freedom, The Heritage Foundation, and the ERLC (Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission).

Do not be silent, join us in engaging good companies that have signed onto this bad legislation and urge them to join other affiliations that truly promote the wellbeing, freedom, and equality of all people.