Watching former Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz talk about queso might be one of the worst things ever. However, it pales in comparison to what the Texas senator has in mind for the 115th United States Congress, which is currently slated to meet for the first time on Tuesday, January 3, 2017. That’s because the former Tea Party poster child wants to reintroduce a previously squashed bit of legislation known as the “First Amendment Defense Act” which, if approved by the GOP-controlled Congress and signed by Donald Trump, would possibly encourage “widespread, devastating discrimination against LGBT people,” according to a legal expert who spoke with NBC.
BuzzFeed reported on Cruz and Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee’s renewed efforts to bring the FADA back to life in early December. According to Cruz, the bill’s reentry into the limelight suggests “the prospects for protecting religious freedom are brighter now than they have been in a long time.” As the original House bill was designed in 2015, FADA prevents the federal government from taking “discriminatory action” against any individual, group or business whose action based on a “religious belief or moral conviction” results in their discriminating against LGBTQ people.
Ignoring for the moment the irony of a proposed federal law protecting those accused of discrimination from being discriminated against by the federal government, Cruz and Lee expressed hope about their bill’s chances following the November elections. “Hopefully November’s results will give us the momentum we need to get this done next year,” Lee’s spokesperson told BuzzFeed, adding: “We do plan to reintroduce FADA next Congress and we welcome Trump’s positive words about the bill.”
In an interview with NBC News, Lambda Legal’s Law and Policy Director Jennifer Pizer explained just how unconstitutional FADA is:
“This proposed new law violates both Equal Protection and the Establishment Clause by elevating one set of religious beliefs above all others,” Pizer said, “And by targeting LGBT Americans as a group, contrary to settled constitutional law.”
However, Pizer’s most important point regarded the possible implications of FADA and other similar pieces of legislation in the age of President Trump. Mainly, that bills and laws like these would invite “widespread, devastating discrimination against LGBT people” across the country.