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Category Archives: ENDA

Anderson: "The ENDA Agenda"

November 2, 2013 – 10:00 am

On Thursday at The National Review Online, Ryan T. Anderson from Heritage - and co-author of What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense - took on "The ENDA Agenda."

Ryan Anderson Ryan points out a remarkable confluence where "conservatives and libertarians alike oppose this bill," explaining why:

Of course, employers should respect the intrinsic dignity of all their employees. But ENDA is bad public policy. Its threats to our freedoms unite civil libertarians concerned about free speech and religious liberty, free marketers concerned about freedom of contract and government interference in the marketplace, and social conservatives concerned about marriage and culture[.]

Ryan then spells out the connection between ENDA and threats to traditional marriage believers on the basis of precedents we've seen set by local and state legislation of a similar kind to ENDA:

It is hard to square ENDA’s basic purpose with any robust protection of citizens’ rights to speak freely of religious or moral convictions about marriage and sexuality. Indeed Americans are paying the price where their state or local governments have passed sexual-orientation and gender-identity statutes.

You can read the entire piece here.

By NOM Staff | Posted in ENDA, Law, Same Sex Marriage | Comments Off

Heritage Releases New Report on ENDA

November 1, 2013 – 8:00 pm

In addition to the resources we shared earlier, our readers may want to check out The Heritage Foundation's new backgrounder report on the "Employee Non-Discrimination Act of 2013" (ENDA). [Click here to read our action alert about this bill.]

The new report from Heritage, authored by Ryan T. Anderson, is (like the "fact sheet" we posted earlier) entitled "ENDA Threatens Fundamental Civil Liberties."

Here's just an excerpt:

[ENDA] would further weaken the marriage culture and the ability of citizens and their associations to affirm that marriage is the union of a man and a woman and that sexual relations are reserved for marriage so understood.[14] ENDA would treat these convictions as if they were bigotry.

Furthermore, ENDA would ban decisions based on moral views common to the Abrahamic faith traditions and to great thinkers from Plato to Kant as unjust discrimination. Whether by religion, reason, or experience, many people of goodwill believe that our bodies are an essential part of who we are. On this view, maleness and femaleness are not arbitrary constructs but objective ways of being human to be valued and affirmed, not rejected or altered. Thus, our sexual embodiment as male and female goes to the heart of what marriage is: a union of sexually complementary spouses. Again, however, ENDA would deem such judgments irrational and unlawful.

You can click here to read or download the report and study it before contacting your legislators.

By NOM Staff | Posted in ENDA, Same Sex Marriage | Comments Off

The ENDA Rational Argument

November 1, 2013 – 2:45 pm

Proponents of the Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which is approaching a vote in the Senate are quick to dismiss arguments that the bill may be a Trojan horse for the same-sex marriage agenda.

(This is a tactic with which those of us in the marriage debate are very familiar. When an argument for traditional marriage is first made, it is scoffed at and dismissed outright. When that argument is then proven to be valid and true, it is studiously ignored. It is the equivalent in public discourse of putting your fingers in your ears and humming.)

Employees But the arguments for marriage will not go away simply by activists' pretending they don't exist.

And neither will arguments proving ENDA to be a threat to marriage.

A great resource outlining such arguments has just been released this week over at the website of The Heritage Foundation.

The factsheet entitled "ENDA Threatens Fundamental Civil Liberties" points out:

ENDA would further weaken the marriage culture and the ability of civil society to affirm that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and that maleness and femaleness are not arbitrary constructs but objective ways of being human. ENDA would treat these moral convictions as if they were bigotry.

Download the factsheet for yourself here.

And while you're at Heritage, you can also check out some other resources on ENDA.

For example, there is a lengthy paper entitled ENDA and the Path to Same-Sex Marriage from back in 2009 which, along with its Executive Summary, demonstrates how even same-sex marriage activists themselves have claimed "legislation like ENDA as a key step on the 'incremental' path to same-sex marriage":

[L]aws like ENDA have already proved to be an important step toward legal recognition for homosexual unions in several states throughout the country. In states including Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, California, Connecticut, and Iowa, courts have cited sexual orientation nondiscrimination laws in decisions mandating same-sex marriage or some other form of legal recognition for homosexual unions. And no state has legislatively redefined marriage without first enacting a sexual orientation nondiscrimination law [SOURCE].

Once you've gotten appraised of these arguments which are only the beginning of the rationale for why ENDA is such dangerous legislation, click here to find out how you can help make sure that this law is rejected and Americans' first amendment rights are protected.

By NOM Staff | Posted in ENDA, Law, Same Sex Marriage | Comments Off

The Senate is Building a Trojan Horse

November 1, 2013 – 10:00 am

National Organization for Marriage

Dear Marriage Supporter,

A bill coming up for a vote in the Senate next-week innocuously named the "Employee Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 (ENDA)" is nothing other than a Trojan horse built to attack the foundational institution of marriage between a man and a woman.

This disastrous piece of legislation is modeled on various local and state non-discrimination statutes that have already been used as tools in advancing the same-sex 'marriage' agenda around the nation. In the wake of Justice Kennedy's misguided opinion in the DOMA case (Windsor v. U.S.) it is certain that this federal ENDA bill will become a fulcrum used by same-sex 'marriage' activists to try to foist a marriage redefinition regime on the entire country.

Why is ENDA so dangerous? Because with the precedent set by this bill, courts in states around the country would soon find easy rationale for ruling that any organization or business that treats same-sex 'marriage' as different from man-woman marriage are discriminatory by definition. Under the law, individuals holding the common-sense belief that marriage is about giving kids a mom and a dad would be subject to punishment. Expressions of support for true marriage in the workplace would no longer be a fundamental right, but discriminatory, bigoted and an actionable offense!

I need you to contact the Senate right away and let them know where you stand on this egregiously flawed law. Urge them to reject ENDA and to preserve pro-marriage Americans' rights to speak, vote, donate, or act in defense of marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

In particular, there are eight senators who need to hear from you today. These senators are 'on the fence' and you can bet they'll be hearing from noisy same-sex 'marriage' lobbyists who want this legislation passed so that they can use it as a tool for forwarding their radical agenda.

Here is the contact information for these key legislators. Take some time today to call their offices and voice your opinion on ENDA using the recommended talking points below:

Senator John McCain (R.–AZ) —	202-224-2235
Senator Rob Portman (R.–OH) —	202-224-3353
Senator Orrin Hatch (R.–UT) —	202-224-5251
Senator Kelly Ayotte (R.–NH) —	202-224-3324
Senator Jeff Flake (R.–AZ) —	202-224-4521
Senator Dean Heller (R.–NV) —	202-224-6244
Senator Pat Toomey (R.–PA) —	202-224-4254
Senator John Barrasso (R.–WY) —	202-224-2946

Ask for a legislative staffer if you get through, or leave a voicemail to make sure these senators know where the majority of Americans stand on this dangerous bill. Here are some talking points to guide your discussion:

"I oppose ENDA because it is a threat to religious liberty, workplace civility, and traditional marriage."

"This bill will be used to bully and intimidate traditionally-minded citizens and organizations like we've already seen occurring in states that have passed they own ENDA-type laws."

"Believers in traditional marriage are already threatened with stigmatization by the reckless wording of Justice Kennedy's DOMA decision, and this bill will put them in even more danger of being labeled bigots or haters by those who disagree with them."

"Employees nationwide shouldn't feel that their workplaces are hostile environments just because of their belief in marriage."

"This bill will almost certainly be used as a tool for pushing a nationwide redefinition of marriage."

"I urge you to reject this bill and protect religious liberty and marriage."

After you've made your calls today, don't forget to use the NOM Action Center to send an email to your own senators and urge them to cast a vote for marriage and religious liberty next week.

And be sure to share this message with your family and friends, via email, or on Facebook and Twitter so that they can take action, too!

We need as many people as possible to become aware of the threat of this Trojan horse being built in the senate before it becomes a weapon in same-sex 'marriage' activists' arsenal.

Thank you for taking action today!

Faithfully,

Brian S. Brown

P.S.: If you'd like to learn more about ENDA or do more to stop this dangerous legislation, Family Research Council's legislative action arm, FRCAction, is leading the charge with a great online resource: www.FightENDA.org. Be sure to check it out!