“Religious groups have a long established First Amendment ability to operate according to their own beliefs, however, when individuals or businesses go out into the commercial market, they must abide by legal non-discrimination provisions,“ Chad Griffin, HRC’s president, said in the release. “When providing a service to the public, a business owner shouldn’t pick and choose who they want to provide a service to and who they want to deny. Instead of protecting religious liberty, this bill gives license for discrimination to run rampant across the state.”

Griffin is correct. So why is HRC pressing to enact the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which only bars employment discrimination? ENDA has a religious exemption that will allow religiously-affiliated employers, including universities, charities, and hospitals, to deny a job to and to fire LGBT people simply because they are LGBT people.

Colleen Simon worked at the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in its food program. This week she was fired from her job because she is lesbian and for no other reason. ENDA’s religious exemption would allow this. We’ve heard too many stories of LGBT teachers being tossed from their jobs at religious schools because they are LGBT. ENDA’s religious exemption would allow all of these firings.

ENDA doesn’t bar discrimination against LGBT people; it makes it legal under federal law.

What we need is comprehensive civil rights legislation with the limited religious exemption that is found in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We don’t need ENDA’s legal discrimination.