If you are an Bible-believing, American Christian, I hope you’ve already heard about the Equality Act—a concerning piece of legislation currently making its way through Congress.
This bill was first introduced and passed in the House of Representatives in 2019. (I wrote about it then in a post titled “Why Bible-Believing Christians Should Oppose the Equality Act.”) It then stalled in the Senate.
President Biden, however, made the passage of this legislation one of his first-100-days-in-office priorities. As such, the bill was reintroduced to the House this week and passed by a 224-206 vote.
The bill is now headed to the Senate where it must be defeated.
So what can you do?
Inform Yourself
Don’t be fooled by the title of this bill. Calling it the “Equality Act” is deceiving because this bill is not about treating all people with equal levels of respect (something Bible-believing Americans should do). This is about strong-arming churches, schools, business owners, women’s shelters, and any and every other sector of society into embracing practices that may infringe upon their conscience, deeply-held beliefs, and even the basic purposes for their existence.
Does that sound extreme? It’s not hyperbole.
Consider just a few of the possible ramifications recently shared by Franklin Graham:
- The Equality Act designates schools, churches, and healthcare organizations as “public accommodations.” With this, schools, churches, and hospitals could be forced to accept the government’s beliefs and mandates about sexual orientation and gender identity. It will threaten everyday speech where people can be fined or lose their jobs for using the wrong name or pronouns.
- The Equality Act will legislate that we allow boys in girls’ sports, boys in girls’ locker rooms, men in women’s shelters, and men in women’s prisons. It will force teachers and students to publicly pretend that a biological male is a female. Schools will be encouraged or mandated to instruct first, second, and third graders that they can choose to be a boy or a girl, or neither, or both, making biological sex (and science) a relic of the past.
- The Equality Act will use the force of law across all 50 states to strip Christian and other religious ministries of their right to hire people of shared faith to pursue a shared mission.
- The Equality Act will strip health professionals of their rights of conscience. It will force doctors and medical professionals who long to do no harm to engage in gender transition treatments such as hormone-blocking, cross-sex hormones, or surgery.
- The Equality Act will be a tool used by the government to deny or threaten accreditation to religious colleges and universities if they do not satisfy the demands of the secular Left to apply sexual orientation and gender identity to dorms, sports, places of privacy, and even teachings.
How would one piece of legislation do all of this? Well, as I wrote 2 years ago, the Equality Act, which is presented as if it were simply an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, makes two serious errors:
- It makes sexual orientation and gender identity protected classes.
- It eliminates use of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
A recent article on NBCnews.com highlighted the outcome of these two errors:
Indeed, contrary to how it is often portrayed, the Equality Act wouldn’t simply amend the Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Equality Act would go a step further—and herein lies the radical rub—by cutting off avenues of appeal for any penalties imposed under the act.
Specifically, it would override the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which gives people a way to challenge government requirements that they feel impinge on their religious rights. The religious freedom act was needed because of a Supreme Court ruling in 1990 that said First Amendment protections for religion couldn’t be invoked to challenge a law if the law itself wasn’t intended to specifically target religion (e.g., a measure like the Equality Act).
Without the ability to even appeal for those rights, the Equality Act would put religious Americans in unconscionable positions.
Do not believe that this is a minor piece of goodwill legislation, intended to help persecuted people who identify as LGBTQ. This is absolutely an attempt to radically change society and, if passed, will absolutely be used to target Christians—in ministry, business, education, and health contexts—who believe in the biblical family and created genders.
Call Your Senators
The one action you should take right now is to call your two senators and ask them to vote against this bill. (You can find their contact information here.)
The bill needs sixty votes to pass. And your senators need to hear from you that you want them to vote NO.
Even for the senators who have already made their position on this bill clear, I think it’s important for them to hear from their constituants. (Those who already stand against it are taking heat from the media and will appreciate your call of encouragement. And those who are for it especially need to hear from you.)
All you need to do is make two phone calls. It’s that simple.
Once again, you can find your senators’ contact information here.
Pray and Share the Gospel
We must pray—not only for this bill to be defeated in the senate, but more importantly for a spiritual revival in our nation.
Earlier I mentioned that this bill is not being pushed with a goodwill agenda. That’s true. But it is also true that there are many people who identify as LBGTQ who need a Savior. Only Christ can bring the healing and wholeness that hurting people need.
The truth is that the equality act is not really about equality. Real equality is found at the foot of the Cross.
As Christians, we should call our senators. We should vote biblical values. But most importantly, we should regularly share the only truly equalizing message this world has ever heard: We are all sinners in need of a Savior, and the glorious gift of the gospel is available to all who will receive Christ.
Because I believe the Equality Act is designed to counter and silence the gospel message, I have called my senators. And because I believe the gospel message is the “power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16), I will continue to preach it and share it.
