XPost: alt.politics.homosexuality, alt.politics.obama, alt.polit   
   cs.conservative   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: slice@dice.com   
      
   NEW YORK (AP) — After a string of major victories in recent   
   years, LGBT activists are bracing for a different task in 2017 —   
   trying to prevent Republicans in Congress and state legislatures   
   from undermining those gains.   
      
   They view President-elect Donald Trump and many of his Cabinet   
   selections as disinterested — and in some cases hostile — when   
   it comes to the various issues of civil rights and anti-   
   discrimination protections that concern lesbian, gay, bisexual   
   and transgender Americans.   
      
   At the state level, with Republicans controlling a sizable   
   majority of legislatures, there's already a push for measures   
   which LGBT activists view as discriminatory. For example,   
   legislators in several states — including Alabama, Missouri,   
   South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin — are advocating   
   for laws that would bar transgender students from using   
   bathrooms or locker rooms that don't match their biological   
   gender at birth.   
      
   "2017 is going to be our toughest year yet," said the National   
   Center for Transgender Equality in a recent fundraising appeal.   
      
   There also may be a push in some states for so-called "religious   
   exemption" laws that would allow some businesses and civil   
   servants to refuse services to LGBT people if their decisions   
   were deemed to be based on religious belief.   
      
   In Congress, conservative Republicans plan to address the   
   religious-exemption issue by relaunching the First Amendment   
   Defense Act , which would prohibit punitive federal action   
   against people and institutions that define marriage as a union   
   of one man and one woman. The measure failed to advance during   
   two previous sessions, but may gain more traction now, with   
   Trump promising to sign it if it reaches his desk.   
      
   Ian Thompson, a legislative specialist with the American Civil   
   Liberties Union, says the proposed act "would open the door to   
   unprecedented taxpayer-funded discrimination, allowing anyone to   
   act with impunity in rejecting same-sex couples."   
      
   The act's lead Senate sponsor, Republican Mike Lee of Utah,   
   denies that the measure gives a green light to discrimination   
   and says it's needed to safeguard religious liberty.   
      
   "It will protect individuals, regardless of their beliefs about   
   marriage, from being deprived of eligibility for federal grants,   
   licenses and employment because of their deeply held   
   convictions," Lee says.   
      
   Among other objectives, the measure would prevent the IRS from   
   revoking the tax-exempt status of religious institutions because   
   of their refusal to accommodate same-sex marriages.   
      
   Although prominent social conservatives consider passage of the   
   act a high priority, its prospects are uncertain. LGBT-rights   
   groups and the Democratic leadership strongly oppose it;   
   Thompson doubts it would gain enough votes to overcome a   
   Democratic filibuster in the Senate.   
      
   It's also unclear how many of the state measures seeking to   
   curtail LGBT rights will be enacted. One state with such a law   
   in effect — North Carolina — has suffered a backlash that   
   included cancellation of planned business and sports activities   
   in the state.   
      
   Business coalitions have formed in several other states —   
   including Texas, Mississippi and Tennessee — to oppose enactment   
   of like-minded bills, and Georgia's Republican governor, Nathan   
   Deal, vetoed such a measure last year.   
      
   Mississippi did enact a religious-exemptions bill last year, but   
   a federal appeals court has blocked it from taking effect. The   
   law would allow clerks to cite religious objections to recuse   
   themselves from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples,   
   and would protect merchants who refuse services to LGBT people.   
      
   Texas is likely to be a high-profile battleground this year. Lt.   
   Gov. Dan Patrick, a key player in setting the legislative   
   agenda, is backing a North Carolina-style bill that would ban   
   transgender people from using public bathrooms of their choice.   
      
   "The people of Texas elected us to stand up for common sense,   
   common decency and public safety," Patrick said at a news   
   conference Thursday.   
      
   A statewide business coalition counters that Texas could lose   
   billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs if it pursues   
   the legislation. Such intervention by the business community is   
   viewed by LGBT activists as vital now that chances for gains at   
   the legislative level have diminished.   
      
   "Even in the face of relentless attempts to undermine equality,   
   America's leading companies and law firms remain steadfast,"   
   said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a   
   national LGBT-rights group.   
      
   James Esseks, director of the ACLU's LGBT Project, depicted the   
   push for religious-exemption bills as "Plan B" for social   
   conservatives after their "Plan A" failed when the U.S. Supreme   
   Court ruled in 2015 that same-sex marriage should be legal   
   nationwide.   
      
   "If they have to live in a world with LGBT equality, they want   
   to carve out a refuge for themselves," Esseks told a recent   
   media briefing.   
      
   Some opponents of the LGBT-rights movement are urging the   
   incoming Trump administration to reverse gay-friendly actions   
   backed by President Barack Obama.   
      
   In Congress, the House Freedom Caucus is calling on the new   
   administration to scrap an Education Department initiative   
   advising school districts to let transgender students use   
   restrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identity, as   
   opposed to the gender on their birth certificate.   
      
   The caucus also wants to revoke non-discrimination protections   
   in the Affordable Care Act that have benefited LGBT people.   
   On another front, the conservative Family Research Council says   
   State Department employees who promote LGBT-rights causes abroad   
   should be "ferreted out" and replaced by conservatives. The   
   Human Rights Campaign denounced this proposal as "illegal and   
   vindictive."   
      
   In another initiative, dozens of prominent conservative   
   academics and religious leaders recently co-signed a statement   
   calling for elimination of all federal, state and local laws   
   establishing civil rights protections on the basis of sexual   
   orientation or gender identity.   
      
   Such measures "empower the government to use the force of law to   
   silence or punish Americans who seek to exercise their God-given   
   liberty to peacefully live and work consistent with their   
   convictions," the statement said.   
      
   Signatories included Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput of   
   Philadelphia, evangelist Franklin Graham, and Albert Mohler,   
   president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.   
      
   http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/usworld/ap/lgbt-activists-brace-   
   for-efforts-to-undermine-their-gains/article_82594120-e2cd-54cd-   
   9ee5-7f96a9e4d2cd.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)