Task Force Joins Faith Communities in Celebrating Religious Freedom Day

WASHINGTON, DC, January 16, 2015 — Today, the National LGBTQ Task Force is joining faith communities throughout the U.S. in celebrating “Religious Freedom Day,” which commemorates the enactment of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786. The bill, authored by Thomas Jefferson, was used as a model for the U.S. Constitution’s protections on religious freedom and the separation of church and state.

“Across the country anti-LGBTQ forces are manipulating cherished freedoms and beliefs to promote laws that discriminate. We can’t let them win. These politicians are cynically pandering for votes by forcing their views on other people. The truth is that millions of people of faith believe that discrimination against LGBTQ people is wrong—and that healthcare decisions should remain between a patient and their medical provider. We don’t need new laws or exemptions as religious liberty is already a basic constitutional right. Instead we must work towards more welcoming congregations and a nation where all people can experience lived freedom, equality and justice,” Rev. Darlene Nipper, National LGBTQ Task Force Deputy Executive Director.

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Media Contacts:
Jorge Amaro
Media and Public Relations Director
(Office) 202.639.6306
(Cell) 213.842.7564
jamaro@thetaskforce.org