The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has always been an anti-LGBT group, even though they have claimed simply to support “Traditional Marriage.” In their most recent newsletter, they encourage their supporters to back legislation they call, “common sense,” which is designed to legislate and legitimate discrimination against same-sex couples. The bill is a direct reaction to President Obama’s executive order banning discrimination against LGBT persons by organizations and entities which receive federal funding.

Last Week, Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) introduced the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act [S. 2706, H.R. 5285] which aims to protect the right of child welfare providers—including private and faith-based adoption and foster care agencies—to continue providing valuable services to families and children.

This important law would prevent the federal government and states receiving certain federal child welfare funds from discriminating against agencies simply because those agencies decline to provide services that conflict with their religious or moral convictions.

The bill is troubling for a number of reasons.

Believing that kids need both a mom and a dad should not disqualify a service provider from doing their invaluable work. They shouldn’t be penalized by the revocation of aid for holding to the common sense principle that children do best when raised by both a loving mother and father.

In reality, this bill is about as much common sense, as believing that the Earth is flat and that you can fall off the edge of the Earth. Both reject Science and place religious convictions are more valuable that Constitutionally protected liberties. In fact t Science has demonstrated that loving same-sex parents are better for children, and that the real damage to children comes from divorce. But the myth of the “perfect family” of mom, dad and the kids is places as more important than the truth. That’s what they are passing off as common sense.

Religious and moral convictions were used to thwart mixed race marriages at one point too. I wonder if Mike Kelly is opposed to mix race marriages out of religious conviction?

The trial judge in a famous interracial marriage case appropriately titled “Loving v. Virginia” apparently agreed that racial separation was God’s will and that mankind must not reverse that principle. He ignored the principle of separation of church and state as well as the equal protection clause in the U.S. Constitution when finding the Loving family guilty of miscegenation. Part of his ruling stated:

“Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races show that he did not intend for the races to mix.”

Kelly is quoted by NOM:

“When did it ever get to the point that people of faith and organizations of faith should be discriminated against when it comes to adopting children or foster care?”

Yet the NOM claim is a lie!

And yes, Thomas, this kind of discrimination is already happening. In Illinois, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia, faith-based agencies have been forced to end their adoption and foster-care programs because they refused to abandon their commitment to placing children in homes with a married mother and a father.

No one has ever forced any faith-based agency to end any program. However, it is true that some agencies have chosen to end their services instead of honor the law. This is the new modus operandi against gays and lesbians- to act as if making a choice is being forced- Christian groups play the victim.

The fallacy is that these agencies are not required to do anything if they operate independently. They are free to operate based on whatever standards they choose. They are only being required to stop discriminating if they wish to receive tax dollars. You see they want your tax money to perpetuate their religious and moral convictions.

NOM, and those fighting against Marriage Equality are having no success in the courts because there is no viable justification for denying equal protection under the Constitution to same-sex couples. But many of these couples as well as many single people seek to adopt children. You would think that would be a good thing helping to ease the number of children without parents who need loving homes. But NOM, with the help of PA Rep Mike Kelly place religious convictions as more important than love.

Help stop this government support for discrimination, and advocate against the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act [S. 2706, H.R. 5285] .