Citing Trump’s Support, GOP Senator to Revive Horrific Anti-LGBT ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill

President-Elect Has Said He’d Sign First Amendment Defense Act

Utah tea party Sen. Mike Lee confirmed Friday that he plans to reintroduce the “First Amendment Defense Act,” or FADA, a sweeping anti-LGBT measure that would allow individuals, businesses and others to discriminate against same-sex couples based on their religious beliefs. 

Lee first introduced FADA, then known as the “Marriage and Religious Freedom Act,” in 2013. After being rebranded as FADA in the current Congress, the bill received a hearing in the House this year but died in part due to the likelihood that President Barack Obama would veto it.  

During his campaign, Trump said he would sign FADA, but the incoming administration didn’t respond to requests for comment from BuzzFeed News, which reported Friday that Lee plans to reintroduce the bill.

“Hopefully November’s results will give us the momentum we need to get this done next year,” Lee spokesman Conn Carroll told BuzzFeed News. “We do plan to reintroduce FADA next Congress and we welcome Trump’s positive words about the bill.”

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a co-author of FADA, suggested that the bill is one of “a multitude of ways we can honor the commitment made to the voters in this last election.”

“The prospects for protecting religious freedom are brighter now than they have been in a long time,” Cruz told BuzzFeed News. 

FADA would effectively make same-sex couples second-class citizens, by prohibiting the federal government from taking action against any individual or business that acts on a belief that marriage is between one man and one woman. It would also sanction discrimination against anyone who’s had extra-marital sex. 

A federal judge struck down a similar law in Mississippi this year, saying it represented “state-sanctioned discrimination” and violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The state is appealing the judge’s decision.