What Is The First Amendment Defense Act? Controversial Bill Under Donald Trump Could Pass, Discriminating Against LGBTQ Americans

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office with a Republican-controlled Congress, it seems likely a controversial bill will be reintroduced, this time, with a much better chance of passing. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Utah Sen. Mike Lee told Buzzfeed News they’d put the First Amendment Defense Act back on the table though it was rejected by the House last year.

The First Amendment Defense Act “prohibits the federal government from taking discriminatory action against a person on the basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that: (1) marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or (2) sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage.”

Essentially, the bill forbids the federal government from punishing a person who discriminates against another person. The bill would make allowances for discrimination against lesbian, gay, transgender and other minority groups, but the language regarding marriage also makes it seem as though discrimination against heterosexual people who have sex outside of marriage would be permitted.

The bill was unveiled in 2015 in both the House and the Senate though it only received a hearing in the House where it failed. Now, however, the bill would have a better chance of passing in a Republican-dominated House backed by the new President-elect. Trump, for his part, has voiced his support for FADA.

“If I am elected president and Congress passes the First Amendment Defense Act, I will sign it to protect the deeply held religious beliefs of Catholics and the beliefs of Americans of all faiths,” Trump's campaign website states.

Many are concerned about the implications of such a bill for minority communities.

“The proposed new law violates both the Equal Protection and the Establishment Clauses by elevating one set of religious beliefs above all others,” Jennifer Pizer, law and policy director at Lambda Legal told NBC, “and by targeting LGBT Americans as a group, contrary to settled constitutional law.”