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ICYMI: Mace: LGBTQ Rights and Religious Liberty Can Coexist

March 2, 2021

 

Washington - Congresswoman Nancy Mace (SC-01) on Tuesday spoke with TheWashington Examiner about cosponsoring the Fairness for All Act and how Congress can protect LGBTQ rights without violating religious liberty. Read the piece here or below.

Rep. Nancy Mace has only been in Congress for a few months, but she’s already establishing herself as an independent voice in the Republican Party. The latest issue the freshman congresswoman from South Carolina is speaking out on?
 
How the GOP can support policies that protect both LGBT rights and religious liberty.
 
Mace’s comments on the issue come after House Democrats just passed the so-called "Equality Act." It's a sweeping bill that adds sexual orientation and gender identity to federal anti-discrimination law. It has no exceptions for religious institutions and individuals. In fact, the legislation explicitly dismantles existing federal laws meant to preserve religious freedom.
 
In an exclusive interview with the Washington Examiner, Mace explained that while she’s voting against the Equality Act, she will be co-sponsoring a Republican alternative bill dubbed the "Fairness for All Act."
 
"I strongly support LGBTQ rights and equality," Mace told me. "No one should be discriminated against."
 
"It isn’t a black-and-white issue," Mace continued, "I do believe that religious liberty, the First Amendment, gay rights, and transgender equality can all coexist. I’m also a constitutionalist, and we have to ensure anti-discrimination laws don’t violate First Amendment rights or religious freedom."
 
The congresswoman’s life experiences have shaped her refreshingly clear-eyed views on this issue.
 
"I have friends and family that identify as LGBTQ," she explained. "Understanding how they feel and how they’ve been treated is important. Having been around gay, lesbian, and transgender people has informed my opinion over my lifetime."
 
Still, knowing where to draw the line when it comes to anti-discrimination law can be tricky. The all-or-nothing approach favored by the hard Left and far Right leaves no room for nuance. In our conversation, Mace agreed that a massive secular corporation like McDonald’s shouldn’t be able to fire someone for being gay, nor should a large apartment complex be allowed to post a "no transgenders allowed" sign in its window. However, that’s a far cry from denying religious nonprofit groups the right to select employees in accordance with their faith or forcing individuals to provide services that violate their moral or religious conscience.
 
"There can be that balance," Mace insists. "The Fairness for All Act … do[es] just that," she offered. "We put in protections for religious liberty."
 
Indeed, the Fairness for All Act, originally introduced by Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah, is endorsed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (formerly known as the Mormon Church) and many other religious organizations. It extends civil rights protections to gay and transgender people but maintains clear carve-outs for religious institutions, nonprofit organizations, and individuals. The question, Mace says, is "how do we do this in a way that the majority of America, not just one half or the other, respects, can live with, and is also constitutional?"
 
The congresswoman acknowledges that more Republicans need to get on board, but argues that support for LGBT rights is growing on the Right, particularly among young conservatives. "These issues are important to future generations of Republicans, who will be, at some point, running the country," Mace offered.
 
"I’m a swing district, that’s socially moderate and fiscally conservative," she said, a disposition is increasingly popular with younger right-of-center people. "People don’t want the government in their bedrooms or their board rooms."
 
"I feel like it’s my duty to speak up on these issues, and to sponsor legislation on these issues, because I want people on both sides of the aisle to know that there are Republicans that care," Mace continued. "That we are compassionate. There are many of us that want equality for everybody."
 
"The more of us that sign on to legislation like this, the more we can make the argument to more members of our party who should be part of this," she concluded.
 
I asked Mace what she makes of left-wing activists who blast conservative compromise proposals as "dangerous" and will call Republicans bigots no matter what.
 
"I’ve been called a lot of things," she said with a laugh. "I just don’t care. I know I’m doing the right thing."
 
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