Religious freedom, a core American value, has increasingly become a weapon of choice against equal legal treatment and public acceptance of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV. As we have won important legal victories, our opponents have amplified their use of extreme religion-based arguments, claiming they are exempt from laws and policies that prohibit discrimination.
Religious liberty in America means absolute freedom to believe as one wishes. It has never meant—and must not mean—that our government favors religious believers over nonbelievers, or certain religious sects over others. We all are entitled to equal liberty and equal protection of the law.
Through public education, policy analysis and strategic litigation, Lambda Legal opposes the misuse of religion as a license to discriminate.