Brian Brown, who fights LGBTQ equality in the U.S. and around the world, sent National Organization for Marriage supporters an email on Wednesday in which he blatantly lied about the Equality Act that has been proposed in Congress. The legislation would add to existing federal civil rights law protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Brown calls it “a direct attack on the religious beliefs of millions of Americans.”
The lies start before you even open the email, with the subject line, “Making support for marriage illegal.” And they continue:
Legislation pending in Congress would make showing support for marriage as solely the union of one man and one woman to be illegal. Under HR 5, the grossly misnamed “Equality Act,” holding the view that marriage should only be between a man and a woman would constitute sex discrimination against someone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
To be clear, none of this is true. The Equality Act would not make it illegal to “hold the view that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.” Nor would it make “showing support for marriage as solely the union of one man and one woman to be illegal.” If the law were passed, the First Amendment would allow Brown to continue to send emails like the one he sent this week and work to get the Supreme Court to overturn its marriage equality ruling.
What the Equality Act would do is prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people in employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service. But that’s enough for Brown to call it an “outrageous assault on people of faith and all supporters of true marriage.”
Brown sent supporters a similar email last month.
