ENDA passes U. S. House of Representatives

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives voted 235-184 to pass a bill (H.R. 3685) which, if signed into law, will give homosexuals and bisexuals special rights in the workplace and threaten the religious liberties of business owners and a whole range of private organizations.

Every business or organization with more than fifteen employees will be prohibited from refusing to hire a person because of the person's “actual or perceived” sexual orientation. This means sexual orientation, which includes homosexuality and bisexuality, will be given the same status as race, sex, and age in our federal civil rights laws.

It would force Christian business owners, Boy Scouts, youth organizations, youth mentoring groups, universities and day care centers to violate their deeply held religious or moral beliefs regarding hiring persons engaged in homosexual or bisexual behavior.

While the bill exempts “religious organizations” the definition is vague enough to put at risk of legal attack organizations run on Christian principles. This list includes Christian bookstores and businesses, children’s homes, community centers, youth organizations, day care centers, schools and other non-profits.

It would prohibit employers from using marriage as employment criteria, e.g. marriage counseling ministries couldn’t require their marriage counselors to be legally married.

In conclusion, ENDA will enshrine "sexual orientation" in federal law, providing activist judges with the legal ammunition to move toward the legalization of gay marriage. (Previous court cases recognizing same-sex marriage have referenced the existence of sexual orientation in other areas of the law to justify their decisions in favor of same-sex marriage.)

The Minnesota Congressional Delegation voted 6-2 in favor of this bill. Republican US Representatives Kline and Bachmann voted against ENDA while all Democrat US Representatives Ellison, McCollum, Peterson, Oberstar, and Walz and Republican Ramstad voted in favor of ENDA.

Below are their phone and email addresses to express your appreciation for a vote against ENDA and disappointment if he or she voted for it.

Once again, ENDA is an attack on religious liberties and will expose business owners, schools and youth organizations like the Boy Scouts to legal attacks for seeking to uphold moral principles in their organizations and businesses.

Please call or email your US Representative at the following numbers. Email can be conducted through his or her webpage

Rep. Michele Bachmann 202.225.2331 or 651.731.5400
http://bachmann.house.gov/Email/

Rep. Keith Ellison - 202.225.4755 or 612.522.1212
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

Rep. John Kline - 202.225.2271 or 952.808.1213
http://kline.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.ContactForm&
To=mn02hwyr@housemail.house.gov&
CFID=19823850&CFTOKEN=41563932

Rep. Betty McCollum - 202.225.6631 or 651.224.9191
http://mccollum.house.gov/custom/mccollum-contactme.asp

Rep. James L. Oberstar (D - 08) - 202-225-6211 or 218.727.8270
http://wwwc.house.gov/oberstar/zipauth.htm

Rep. Collin Peterson - 202.225.2165 or 218.253.4356 or 320.235.1061
http://collinpeterson.house.gov/email.html

Rep. Jim Ramstad - 202.225.6351 or 952.738.8200
mn03@mail.house.gov

Rep. Tim Walz - 202.225.3433 or 507.206.0650
http://walz.house.gov/ContactForm/ZipAuth.htm