KENTUCKY FRIED

Anti-LGBT “Religious Freedom” Bill Passes Kentucky Senate Committee

kentuckyKentucky House Bill 279, which would allow residents to ignore anti-discrimination laws if they conflicted with their religious beliefs, has passed out of the State Senate Judiciary Committee without a hitch, and is heading for a full vote by the State Senate today.

Sponsored by Rep. Bob Damron (D-Nicholasville), H.B. 279 already cleared the Kentucky House and—with passage expected in the Senate—could land on Governor Steve Beshear’s desk for signature or veto this week.

If it becomes law, it would have a profound effect on the rights of LGBT Kentuckians, not to mention single parents, women using birth control, divorced couples and religious minorities.

Damron and his supporters say the bill actually protects religious minorities, though—they claim it would have helped a group of Amish men recently jailed for refusing to put orange safety triangles on their buggies.

We’re not buying it, and neither are civil-rights groups: This law is nothing more than a poor recitation of the First Amendment, and is a thinly veiled move by the legislature showing their lack of respect or tolerance for the LGBTI community,” said Jillian Hall of  the Kentucky Equality Federation.

Darn, makes us wish Kentucky actually had seceded.

h/t: Queerty reader Craig

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