Norton Calls Out Senator Lee for Misleading Public on His Anti-LGBT Bill that Covers One Local Jurisdiction—D.C. and Its Residents

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today criticized Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) for failing to disclose to the public that his anti-LGBT First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) applies not only to the federal government but to one local jurisdiction, the District of Columbia, as well. FADA would prohibit the federal and District of government, but not state governments, from denying benefits, contracts and the like to individuals, non-profits and for-profits that discriminate against LGBT people based on a sincerely-held religious belief or moral conviction. FADA defines the District government as part of the federal government. Norton noted that Lee's press release announcing FADA's introduction, as well as the Q&A accompanying the release, only describes FADA's applicability to the federal government and entirely omits FADA's applicability to the District government.

"Senator Lee has misled the public about the impact of his discriminatory attack on a local jurisdiction and its residents," Norton said. "He prides himself on his support for limited government, as his biography on his website indicates, but this bill abuses the federal government's power over the local D.C. government, which has granted the District home-rule rights over local legislation. Our democracy, based on federalism, recognizes, even applauds, our differences by allowing them to be acted out locally. District residents, like Americans in many other jurisdictions, value LGBT residents by protecting them from discrimination and intend to continue to do so. I ask Senator Lee to remove the District from his bill. If he won't do so, the least he should do is be honest about what his bill does."

Norton said FADA could effectively gut D.C.'s LGBT anti-discrimination laws by not only prohibiting the D.C. government from enforcing the law, but could also be read to prohibit private citizens from enforcing it, too, either by stripping courts of their authority to impose penalties or by allowing defendants in private civil suits to raise FADA as a defense.

When FADA was introduced last Congress, it only applied to the federal government. While the FADA sponsors said publicly last Congress that the bill would be rewritten to apply to D.C., this is the first time it in fact does so.

Norton said Lee frequently disregards his professed support for local control by interfering in the local affairs of the District. In prior Congresses, Lee has introduced bills to ban abortions in the District after 20 weeks of pregnancy and to gut D.C.'s occupational licensing laws. Norton said she intends to keep Lee's latest discriminatory bill from becoming law, as she has his other anti-democratic bills.