Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday morning announced the formation of a “Religious Liberty Task Force” intended to implement and enforce anti-LGBTQ Trump policies that would allow people to discriminate based on religious beliefs.
1/ This morning Jeff Sessions announced a "Religious Liberty Task Force" as he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with anti-#LGBTQ activists. pic.twitter.com/9IRiGhulfD
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) July 30, 2018
Said Sessions: “A dangerous movement, undetected by many, but real, is not challenging and eroding a great tradition of religious freedom. There can be no doubt it's no little matter. It must be confronted intellectually and politically and defeated.”
The Hill adds: “Sessions said the guidance he issued in October layers out 20 fundamental principles for the executive branch to follow, including the principles that free exercise means a right to act — or to abstain from action — and that government shouldn't impugn people's motives or beliefs. ‘In short, we have not only the freedom to worship—but the right to exercise our faith. The Constitution's protections don't end at the parish parking lot nor can our freedoms be confined to our basements,”' he said, according to his prepared remarks. Sessions said the federal government under the Trump administration is not just reacting, but actively seeking, carefully, thoughtfully and lawfully, to accommodate people of faith. ‘Religious Americans are no longer an afterthought,' he said.”
Sessions' full speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYhOIWsuing&t=3s
