A Theocratic ‘Powerhouse’ Is Gaining Influence In The Courts

Today’s Washington Post includes a profile of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), referring to the organization as a “powerhouse.” You may know the ADF as the group that takes on cases of businesses who want the legal right to use religion to discriminate.

South Carolina Seeks A Right To Use Religion To Discriminate

Religious freedom is a fundamental value, but it does not permit government-funded providers to discriminate against the children and families they are supposed to serve.

The Ripple Effect Of The Supreme Court’s Masterpiece Cakeshop Decision

The US Supreme Court’s Masterpiece Cakeshop opinion is having an immediate and wide-ranging impact. The Arizona Court of Appeals cited the Masterpiece opinion when it ruled against Brush & Nib Studio, one of several businesses around the country that, like Masterpiece, is trying to use religious beliefs to justify discrimination.

Uncovering Project Blitz: Fighting A Secret, Coordinated Legislative Strategy To Undermine Religious Freedom In The States

Every legislative session, AU tracks hundreds of state bills that, if passed, would undermine religious freedom in nearly every state. We often see trends arise across states. Lawmakers in different states introduce similar bills, and sometimes even the same exact bills with the same exact language. And we can usually figure out why that happens: conservative lobbying groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and state Focus on the Family affiliates often shop model bills around to state legislators, who then introduce these model bills in their states. The lobbying groups also share strategies with legislators to help pass their bills. The result: Similar harmful bills appear and pass in many different states in a nationwide onslaught.

The Supreme Court’s Masterpiece Cakeshop Ruling: What Really Happened

This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 7-2 decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights CommissionThe decision is a bit of an odd duck. The court repeatedly reaffirmed our nation’s commitment to combating discrimination against LGBTQ people in businesses open to the public. Yet the court holds in favor of a bakery that refused to bake a cake for a same-sex couple’s wedding.

The Do No Harm Act Protects Religious Freedom And Equal Protection Under Law

The Do No Harm Act Protects Religious Freedom And Equal Protection Under Law

Senators Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) today introduced the Do No Harm Act in the U.S. Senate. The bill honors two core American values: religious freedom and equal protection of the law. And it couldn’t be more important right now.

Americans United Welcomes Introduction Of Do No Harm Act In U.S. Senate

Americans United for Separation of Church and State today welcomed the introduction of the Do No Harm Act in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).

An Oregon Public School Is Accused Of Discriminating Against LGBTQ Kids And Forcing A Student To Read The Bible

Oregon’s Department of Education (ODE) is investigating disturbing reports of potential violations of religious freedom and LGBTQ rights at a public high school. For us at Americans United, the implication that North Bend High School staff may have been using their personal religious beliefs to determine how they treat LGBTQ students is particularly alarming.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin Has Signed Two Bills That Undermine Religious Freedom

On Friday evening, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed two bills that undermine religious freedom: SB 1140, which allows state-funded adoption and foster care agencies to use religion to justify denying children homes and discriminating against prospective parents, and HB 2177, which authorizes every government building and public school to display the Ten Commandments.

Oklahoma Gov. Fallin Should Listen to Faith Leaders And Advocates Who Say: Put Kids First

Oklahoma’s state legislature recently passed a bill, SB 1140, that would allow state-funded child-placing agencies to use religion to justify denying children homes and discriminating against prospective parents. This bill allows foster care and adoption agencies to refuse to perform, assist or participate in any child placement in the name of religion. So that means religious child placement agencies could turn away prospective parents who want to provide kids with a loving, stable home because they’re a same-sex couple, interfaith, previously divorced, or the “wrong religion.”

New Poll Shows Americans Believe That Public Businesses Should Be Open To All

According to a new Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) survey, the majority of Americans oppose allowing businesses to refuse service to LGBTQ people in the name of religion, and more Americans are welcoming of marriage equality and nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people. 

In the Last Moments Of Their Legislative Sessions, Kansas And Oklahoma Put Religious Discrimination Ahead Of Kids

State legislatures in both Kansas and Oklahoma passed bills last Thursday (Senate Bill 284 in Kansas and Senate Bill 1140 in Oklahoma) that would allow state-funded child-placing agencies to use religion to justify denying children homes and discriminating against prospective parents.

Trump’s New ‘Religious Freedom’ Order Actually Undermines That Principle

In honor of the National Day of Prayer, President Donald Trump, with his Evangelical Advisory Board by his side, held a ceremony in the Rose Garden and signed an “Executive Order on the Establishment of a White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative.”  Under the guise of religious freedom, this executive order further entrenches the administration’s policies to allow religion to discriminate.

Kansas' Child-Welfare System Is In Crisis, But Legislators Are Making It Even Harder For Kids To Find Homes

In Kansas, dozens of foster children are spending their nights not in warm beds in safe homes, but on couches and cots in child welfare offices run by state contractors. These children need loving foster and adoptive families to provide the care they need. Yet, in spite of this crisis, Kansas legislators are trying to make it harder for these children to find families who can give them warm, safe beds.