Two Los Angeles City Council members convened faith leaders and members of the LGBT community Thursday for a prayer session in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump, although it did not contain many of the provisions which they feared.
The order eases a ban on political endorsements by churches and religious groups, but was not the same as a previous draft of the religious order leaked to The Nation in February which would have provided legal protections for people and organizations who claim religious objections to same- sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion and transgender people.
That leaked draft drew rebukes from various civil-rights groups, suggesting the order would tacitly authorize discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.
The White House distanced itself from the leaked draft.
Vice President Mike Pence came under similar criticism when he, as governor of Indiana, signed a religious liberty order that was criticized by opponents who said it opened the door for discrimination against the LGBT community. In response to the outcry, Pence later amended the order.
The City Hall prayer session — which comes on the National Day of Prayer — had been scheduled before the details of Trump’s order were reported. But even with the different focus of the new executive order, City Council members Mike Bonin and Mitch O’Farrell and the other leaders in attendance still had plenty to say about the order and Trump’s policies in general.
“I’m praying today for an end to this national nightmare, for an end to this national disgrace to democracy and this insult to God. What we have in Washington D.C. today is an administration that is spewing hate and marching this country indisputably towards fascism,” Bonin said.
Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California, said that while the new order did not appear to be the “frontal attack” some feared, “it further clouds and funds political campaigns and allows religious organizations free reign to use the political process to target anyone they find objectionable. For that reason, today’s executive orders offer the LGBTQ community no reason to celebrate.”
Trump’s order loosens a provision of the tax code prohibiting tax-exempt religious organizations from directly supporting or opposing political candidates.
“We are giving churches their voices back,” Trump said at a ceremony at the White House where he signed the order. He added that the revocation of tax exemption for churches that engage in political speech is “a crippling financial punishment. Very, very unfair.”
The order also makes it easier for employers who have religious objections to deny contraception coverage in their health plans.
“Let me just say that any limit of any kind that seeks to discriminate in any small way, whether it be for their beliefs or their gender identify or sexual orientation, or religious beliefs, is wrong. And even if it is a minor step the Trump administration is taking to minimize our rights, we have to stand up against it,” O’Farrell said.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was not at the prayer session, but did issue a statement responding to the executive order.
“The executive order signed today by the president opens the door to a day when bigotry can be more easily disguised and protected under the cover of religious liberty. That should concern everyone who cherishes the idea that all people have dignity and deserve equal treatment,” Garcetti said.
— City News Service