Politifact To Religious Right: You’re Lying About ENDA

ENDA just got a major boost from the fact checkers at Politfact. The controversial journalists made big news last week and were heralded by conservatives and Republicans upon awarding President Barack Obama the “Lie of the Year” for his “you can keep your doctor” Obamacare claim.

But now, Politifact is likely back in the GOP doghouse after handing religious conservatives, including the president of the conservative anti-gay certified hate group, Traditional Values Coalition (TVC), a “false” rating for her comment attacking Democratic Senator Mark Pryor over ENDA.

“There’s a reason why Pryor is attempting to run as a Christian in Arkansas,” TVC’s Andrea Lafferty had said in a fundraising email. “It’s because Pryor has voted for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in Washington, a bill that discriminates against Christian daycare, Christian parents, Christian business owners, and the rights of religious freedom.”

Politifact rightly says that claim is “false”.

The Traditional Values Coalition’s ENDA disapproval is shared by other Christian groups, like the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. They expressed their view in an Oct. 31 press release:

“The USCCB continues to promote the dignity of both work and marriage and to oppose unjust discrimination on any grounds, including those related to homosexual inclination or sexual identity. But we cannot support a bill, like ENDA, that does not justly advance the dignity of all workers and authentic non-discrimination.”

Politifact then slams home the actual facts:

Churches and other institutions with religious purposes (like schools and daycares) are exempt from the ENDA rules, just as they are from the religious discrimination portion of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s Title VII.

Under Title VII, and therefore under ENDA, religious organizations, which need not be church-run, would be exempt. Additionally, all businesses with fewer than 15 employees are exempt, whether they’re religious or not.

The bill’s religious exemption indicates that churches, church-run initiatives and other religious businesses need not comply by employing people of all sexualities and gender identities. And there’s no special negative treatment for Christians. Businesses of any religion could qualify for the exemption. Individuals of any faith who oppose sexuality would have to abide by the law, so no religion is singled out.

Politifact did their homework, but they should have gone further, examining the anti-LGBT hate and lies about ENDA spewed from other anti-gay hate groups, like the Family Research Council and the American Family Association.