First Amendment Defense Act Subject of House Oversight Committee Hearing Tuesday Morning
The powerful Republican-led House Oversight Committee is marking the one month anniversary of the nation’s worst anti-LGBT hate crime, deadliest mass shooting in modern times, and deadliest terror attack since 9/11 by holding a hearing to advance an anti-gay “religious freedom” bill. The hearing, which begins at 10 AM EDT today, will include the Republican co-sponsors of the bill, the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-ID).
Witnesses opposed to the legislation will include retired Democratic Congressman Barney Frank, along with Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that found same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage, and Katherine Franke, Sulzbacher Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Gender & Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School.
Also testifying before the committee are three anti-gay activists. Kelvin Cochran, the former Atlanta Fire Chief fired after not obtaining permission to use his position in an anti-gay religious book he peddled to people who worked for him. Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Kristen Waggoner, who has repeatedly misrepresented the case and consequences against Washington florist Barronelle Stutzman. And Matthew J. Franck, PhD, the Director of the William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution at the Witherspoon Institute, a think tank that was in part responsible for the Regnerus “study” that fraudulently claimed children raised by same-sex parents do worse than their peers.
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Video hat tip: Joe.My.God.