US president Joe Biden delivers remarks at a virtual event hosted by the Munich Security Conference in the East Room of the White House on 19 February 2021 in Washington, DC. In his remarks, president Biden stressed the United States’ commitment to NATO after four years of the Trump administration undermining the alliance. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images)
Catholic League leaders are not too happy with Joe Biden, saying the US president is so “obsessed” with LGBT+ people that he’s leaving religious people behind.
The league, a conservative non-profit with over 11,000 members, complained that President Joe Biden has developed a “total disinterest” in supporting religious communities because of his “obsession with the rights” of LGBT+ people.
Its CEO Bill Donohue celebrated Joe Biden’s first month in office with a statement accusing him of not speaking on human rights more broadly, but limiting “his discussion to the rights of homosexuals and transgender people.”
Donohue wrote: “This tells us a great deal about his priorities.
“In contrast to Biden’s obsession with the rights of sexual minorities is his total disinterest in the rights of Christians.”
He went on to explain that the Christian League had researched Biden’s directives and executive orders and couldn’t find any that directly related to upholding the human rights of Christians.
Donohue continued: “Why are the rights of LGBT people given preferential treatment over Christians and other people of faith?”
He ended his tirade by saying Biden’s “selective interest in human rights” suggests that the “rights of Christians at home… count less than the rights of males and females who are sexually confused”. Presumably, Donohue has never heard of people who are both Christian and LGBT+.
The statement comes after Biden called on Congress to “swiftly pass” the Equality Act.
The president has compelled Congress to move quickly in passing the Equality Act to ensure LGBT+ people are given the dignity and respect they deserve. He also applauded congressman David Cicilline and the entire Congressional Equality Caucus for formally reintroducing the act in the House of Representatives.
Biden said the bill “represents a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all”. He continued: “Full equality has been denied to LGBTQ+ Americans and their families for far too long.
“Despite the extraordinary progress the LGBTQ+ community has made to secure their basic civil rights, discrimination is still rampant in many areas of our society.”
Catholic bishops have denounced the Equality Act multiple times in the past.
In 2019, Christian leaders, including Catholic bishops, joined forces with designated anti-LGBT+ hate groups including the Alliance Defending Freedom and American Family Association in signing a letter sent to the House Judiciary Committee condemning the Equality Act.
The letter argued the bill “hinders the quality of healthcare, endangers the privacy and safety of women and girls and regulates free speech, severely undermines religious freedom and threatens charitable nonprofits and the people they serve”.
It also said the Equality Act would “mandate that all healthcare professionals and providers perform gender transition procedures that go against many such providers’ best medical judgement, not to mention their deeply held moral or religious convictions”.
Signatories also argued that passing the Equality Act would “undermine civil rights for women and girls” by allowing trans people to use restrooms, locker rooms, shower facilities and play on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
Now, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is calling for Americans to contact their congressional representatives and urge them to vote no on the Equality Act. A page on the USCCB website says: “The Equality Act discriminates against people of faith and threatens unborn life. Tell congress to oppose it!”
