Crosstalk: February 23, 2016

America is dedicated to protecting our First Amendment freedoms while respecting that we are equal before the law. This has been taken to a new level as sexual orientation and gender identity laws are trampling upon religious liberty and personal privacy issues. At this moment there are municipalities and school districts trying to force these new laws upon us giving people the so-called 'right' to use restrooms, locker rooms, shower facilities and changing areas of the gender they wish to identify with rather than what they actually are. Joining Jim to discuss this issue was Ryan Anderson. Ryan researches and writes about marriage and religious liberty as the William E. Simon senior research fellow in American principles and public policy at the Heritage Foundation. He is the founder and editor of Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute of Princeton, NJ. He is the author of 'Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom'. What's the driving force behind this push for sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) laws? According to Ryan, for some it's motivated by a genuine desire to eliminate what they view as discrimination in the areas of jobs and housing access. For another segment of the population Ryan feels this movement is driven by a view of eliminating any dissent and traditional commitment to an understanding of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Ryan believes these laws are sold under the banner of equality when, in fact, they create special legal privileges claiming that under your sexual orientation or gender identity you now have a claim to sue someone. The better solution is to recognize equality before the law so that if you want to bake a same-sex wedding cake, you can and if you don't want to bake one you don't have to. Freedom is a two-way street yet according to Ryan, these laws make it a one-way 'ratchet' in favor of LGBT interests. In the end, this threatens freedom, allowing LGBT individuals to live according to their deepest values and commitments while orthodox Jews, Roman Catholics, Latter Day Saints and Evangelical Christians are not free to live in accordance with their deepest values and commitments. Jim also has Ryan compare SOGI laws to racial discrimination laws, Ryan looks at the federal Equality Act (HR-3185/S-1858) and what it would do and the Human Rights Campaign's contention that 2016 is the most dangerous year for transgender Americans.