SHANNON BREAM (HOST): The Equality Act is something that is going to be working its way through the Senate, and there has been a lot of back and forth on this. If you question it, then you are a bigot and that you are undermining and supporting discrimination against the LGBTQ community. The Washington Post says this: “The Equality Act matches Americans’ fast-moving rejection of discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. More than 6 in 10 Americans say business owners should not be allowed to refuse services to LGBTQ people on the basis of religion."
Is that an accurate portrayal of the Equality Act, as you see it?
SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): No, Shannon. This is a radical proposal. Of course, Americans think that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect, but they also want to respect the religious freedom of all Americans, and they want to uphold what, until just yesterday, seemed to be pretty commonsense notions.
Look, more than 20% of the largest charities in America are faith-based. More than a trillion dollars of social goods are performed by those charities, but the Equality Act would threaten them all.
Just to give you a few examples, Shannon: If you run a battered women's shelter, and a man shows up and said he wants to be admitted in there — to a place where women are hiding from abusive, violent boyfriends and husbands — you might be sued. You might lose your government contracts. Or churches, and Christian schools, and hospitals, again, could lose their tax-exempt status or be sued by Joe Biden's Department of Justice.
Or, if you want a farcical but very real example, notorious Democratic megadonor and serial sexual predator Harvey Weinstein could transition to being a woman tomorrow, and the Equality Act would require the government to put him in a women's prison.
This is the height of folly. We need to respect the rights of all Americans while continuing to treat all Americans with dignity and respect, but we shouldn't impose these kinds of radical laws on our society.
BREAM: That debate continues.