Louisiana gov.‘s executive order allows state to punish Christians over gay ‘weddings’: family leader
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has signed
an executive order that critics say will open the floodgates for discrimination
lawsuits to be filed against businesses and will prevent people of faith from
freely exercising their religion.
The order, which was signed yesterday, adds
“sexual orientation” and “gender identity” alongside such immutable
characteristics as race, sex, and national origin in the state's
anti-discrimination policy. All firms that accept state contracts must adopt a
similar policy.
“We are fortunate enough to live in a state
that is rich with diversity,” said Gov. Edwards on Wednesday. “We do not
discriminate based on our disagreements.”
Edwards, a Democrat, rescinded an executive
order enacted by former Gov. Bobby Jindal last
May, which prohibits the state from taking any “adverse action” against any
person or business who acts on a belief “that marriage is or should be
recognized as the union of one man and one woman.”
Gov. Jindal penned the “Marriage
and Conscience” order just
hours after state legislators, including many Republicans, defeated a similar
bill introduced by State Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Bossier City.
Gov. Edwards ripped his predecessor's action,
saying it did “nothing but divide our state” and “goes against everything we
stand for – unity, acceptance, and opportunity for all.”
His own “executive order respects the
religious beliefs of our people,” and “signals to the rest of the country that
discrimination is not a Louisiana value,” Gov. Edwards said.
State family leaders said the order moved the
state backwards and placed it out-of-step with other states, like Mississippi,
where Gov. Phil
Bryant just signed a law granting broad religious protections for
business owners who do not wish to take part in a same-sex “wedding” ceremony.
“Ironically, while other states are seeking to
protect people of faith, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards seems to be using
his executive power to silence those same people of faith,” said Gene Mills,
president of the Louisiana Family Forum.
LFF said the order “introduces sexual politics
into the workplace” and calls the religious exemption “extremely narrow.”
"Nowhere in Louisiana law (or the
executive order) is a legal definition provided for the newly protected
categories," Mills added.
Gov. Edwards, who promised
to rescind Jindal's executive order last December,
highlighted support from business leaders and filmmakers upon rolling out his
decision on Wednesday.
The previous order “sanctions unfair
discrimination and prevents growth in Louisiana’s creative economy,” said
Lampton Enochs, CEO of Moonbot Studios, which won an
Oscar for Best Animated Short in 2012. It produces a wide range of materials
aimed at children.
“A welcoming and fair workplace is not only
the right thing to do, but is good for business,” agreed Rev. Lindy Broderick,
the executive vice president of the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, who
is also a deacon at a United Methodist church in
Shreveport.
A coalition of corporate and entertainment
leaders, such as Disney
Studios, have threatened to boycott other
states considering religious conscience legislation.
However, individuals and small business owners
with deeply held traditional beliefs about sexuality – including photographers, bakers,
and elderly
florists –
across the nation have faced crushing fines and government sanctions for
refusing to take part in a ceremony that violated their religion.
Last year, Richard
and Betty Odgaard closed Görtz Haus Gallery in
Grimes, Iowa, after being the target of complaints that they would not host a
homosexual ceremony in their chapel.
In 2014, Robert and
Cynthia Gifford closed the part of their business that
involved hosting weddings after being forced to
pay a $13,000 settlement for refusing to host a lesbian ceremony on
their New York property.
