The Equal Housing and Employment Act(EHEA) gives the same civil rights to homosexuals, lesbians, cross dressers etc. as it does to minorities in the state of Ohio. There is no religious exclusion in the bill for churches, religious organizations, and Christian business owners.
Federal courts have established three criteria and all three of them must be in place for a class of people to receive protected class status under civil rights law:
1. They must be identified by an immutable, non-behavior based characteristic such as skin color, ethnicity, sex, etc.;
2. They must have experienced a history of economic deprivation as a result of discrimination; and
3. They must be politically powerless that is, they must lack the ability to obtain meaningful political representation.
Persons who identify themselves by their “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” do not exhibit any of these criteria.
EHEA was introduced and passed in the Ohio House last year. In order for H.B. 176 to become law in Ohio, it has to pass in the Ohio Senate. If this bill passes in the Senate and becomes law, organizations and individuals will have to comply with this new law or be charged with civil rights violations.
Please pray for the defeat of this bill to protect religious freedom and free speech.
To read this bill:
Click here to read the bill.