House Committee Defeats ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill
Addison Herron-Wheeler is OUT FRONT's co-publisher and editor-in-chief and friend…
Yesterday, the Colorado House of Representatives State, Veterans, & Military Affairs committee voted against House Bill 19-1140, a ‘religious freedom’ bill that would have rolled back protections for queer people in most areas, including foster care, health care, housing, marriage, employment, and public spaces.
“This bill was the most mean-spirited anti-LGBTQ bill to be introduced in the Colorado legislature in years, said One Colorado Executive Director Daniel Ramos in a press release. “Freedom of religion is important, but that freedom doesn’t give any of us the right to harm others or to discriminate against others. Nobody should be turned away from a business, denied service, fired from their job, or evicted from their home simply because of who they are. Colorado has sent a strong, clear message that these license-to-discriminate bills have no place in our state.”
This bill is one of the most mean-spirited, blatantly anti-LGBTQ bills to be introduced in the Colorado State Legislature in years. #HB1140 #LoveAndLetLive #RFRA
— One Colorado (@One_Colorado) February 12, 2019
“The irony is that the details of this bill are in direct odds with the core values of the religions the bill claims to support,” added Reverend Amanda Henderson, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado. “Each of our faith traditions hold a common call to love our neighbors. Love does not look like rejecting or refusing to serve someone because you disagree with them or disapprove of who they are or who they love.”
The bill failed along party lines with a 6-3 vote against, and thankfully won’t be making it any further in the legal process.
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Addison Herron-Wheeler is OUT FRONT's co-publisher and editor-in-chief and friend to dogs everywhere. She enjoys long walks in the darkness away from any sources of sunlight, rainy days, and painfully dry comedy. She also covers cannabis and heavy metal, and is author of Wicked Woman: Women in Metal from the 1960s to Now and Respirator, a short story collection.