“Add the Words” supporters have been fighting for equal protection for eight years, and many are optimistic this is the year an equality clause for members of Idaho’s LGBT community will be passed. But the House State Affairs Committee unanimously passed a bill last week that would do the opposite, effectively giving businesses, teachers and medical professionals the right to deny service to anyone as long as they cite “sincerely held” religious beliefs.
Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, said the bill is a response to the government’s recent decisions, which undermine the rights of devout Christians and other deeply religious individuals to live according to their faith.
“The bill is actually drafted very narrowly, addressing only the right of a person to maintain an occupational license in a conflict over their right to address their faith,” Luker said. “Some examples do involve LGBT issues and others do not.”
Luker said the bill does not specifically protect one’s employment, but their occupational license. Luker gave the example of a photographer employed by a studio — if their choice to deny service violated their studio’s policy, they can be terminated without protections of the bill. But following that termination, the bill protects the photographer’s license so they can find another job.
“Unfortunately, a full discussion and understanding of the issue addressed by the bill cannot be obtained in brief headlines, Twitter posts and the like which seemed to be used to deflect away from the true issue addressed by the bill — oppression of those with religious faith,” Luker said.
The bill would also allow medical professionals to deny service to unmarried mothers without losing business licensure.
“(The bill) is designed to protect the very first protected right in the Constitution under the First Amendment — the protection of the free exercise of religion,” Luker said. “Exercise does not just mean worship, but it means the ability to act according to one’s faith.”
He said the government has gone too far in forcing religious individuals to abandon their faith.
“People of faith have finally decided to say we have to try to do something to protect ourselves from the assault upon our rights,” Luker said.
House Assistant Minority Leader Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, is a proponent for the “Add the Words” campaign — a campaign to add equal protections for the state’s LGBT population to the Idaho Human Rights Act. Burgoyne said Luker’s bill is bringing an opportunity to have a conversation in the legislature about Idaho slashing equal rights for gays. He said he is hoping to change minds on the issue before the bill is passed.
In an “Add the Words” rally Jan. 11, Burgoyne addressed the nearly 500 rally attendees and said it’s time the state emphasized treating others with respect and dignity — regardless of sexual orientation.
Also a Boise Democrat, Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb co-sponsored the “Add the Words” bill with Burgoyne. She said the people of Idaho need to come together in efforts to make the pro-equality voice heard.
“I stand before you today to implore our legislators to stop quotin’, and start votin’,” Buckner-Webb said at the rally. “Justice is a way of life for each and every person.”
There is no date set for the hearing yet, but House State Affairs Committee Chairman Republican Rep. Tom Loertscher said it will need a large venue. In 2012, “Add the Words” supporters nearly filled the Capitol’s 240-seat Lincoln Auditorium in a hearing on updating the Human Rights Act.
Chloe Rambo can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @CRchloerambo