PFLAG National Says Executive Order Grants “…Broad Permission to Discriminate”

WASHINGTON, DC—PFLAG National—the nation’s largest organization uniting families, allies, and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ)—today spoke out against the signing of a so-called “religious liberty” Executive Order.

Said Interim Executive Director Elizabeth Kohm, “Today the President of the United States issued an Executive Order which, although longer than one of his tweets, left us stunned by its brevity, alarmed by its content, perplexed by its many unanswered questions, and concerned about the next steps of this administration. In signing this so-called “religious liberty” order, the president has essentially granted broad permission to discriminate, and ceded enormous power to unelected officials to interpret regulation and current law. We are deeply concerned that rights and protections for people from marginalized communities will be even further subject to the whims of others’ personal ideology controlling their lives, a concept entirely antithetical to the values of freedom and dignity our nation holds dear. The irony of the president invoking the names of Thomas Jefferson—one of the greatest proponents of the separation of church and state—and The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.—one of the great champions of nondiscrimination and equal rights—as he signed this Executive Order might have been lost on him; it was not lost on us.”

To learn more about PFLAG National’s advocacy work, visit pflag.org/wherewestand.

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PFLAG is the nation’s largest organization uniting families, allies, and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. PFLAG is committed to advancing equality through its mission of support, education, and advocacy, and has more than 400 chapters and 200,000 supporters crossing multiple generations of American families in major urban centers, small cities, and rural areas in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. To learn more, visit pflag.org.