COLUMBUS — The battle lines are being drawn as Ohio House Bill 369 (H.B. 369) is facing stiff opposition. Last month all six bishops in Ohio sent a letter to the Ohio House of Representatives opposing the measure saying the bill shows contempt for religious conscience.
The pending legislation in the House Civil Justice Committee, seeks to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Presently there is no Ohio law excluding LGBT individuals. H.B. 369 would give additional rights to LGBT individuals that biological males and females would not have. Examples include: mandating biological men be allowed in women’s restrooms, locker rooms, and showers if they claim they identify as women, and forcing women’s homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters to allow biological men who claim to identify as women to bathe and bunk with women.
According to the letter sent by the Catholic Conference of Ohio, the “Catholic Church stands against unjust discrimination. We encourage public policies that will address bullying and hate crimes. However, “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” (SOGI) non-discrimination legislation such as H.B. 369 would negate and inappropriately redefine reasonable laws that currently protect the rights of conscience and religious liberty.
According to the Ohio Catholic Conference, there are 1.9 million Catholics in Ohio, including three hundred seventy-four Catholic K-12 schools, and ninety-four health care facilities.
“Of major concern is the possibility that certain actions our Church takes regarding behaviors we view as immoral will be perceived and litigated as discriminatory.”
Correspondence by Catholic Conference of Ohio
The letter stated “Of major concern is the possibility that certain actions our Church takes regarding behaviors we view as immoral will be perceived and litigated as discriminatory.”
The letter also cited the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops which stated “Gender identity” laws may seek to force a women’s shelter run by a Catholic agency to allow a male to stay there because he “identifies” as female.
(Photo courtesy of Ohio Catholic Conference)
This very scenario played out in 2018 when a drunk biological man who identified as a woman was denied access because the faith-based homeless shelter did not want to force vulnerable women to sleep next to a biological man. When slapped with a federal lawsuit, Alliance Defending Freedom successfully defended the Downtown Hope Center, located in Anchorage, Alaska.
In addition, the correspondence by the Catholic Bishops said that H.B. 369 will codify terms into law that are not clearly defined.
Prior to its introduction, H.B. 369 sponsor Rep. Brett Hillyer (R-Uhrichsville), falsely claimed the bill had the support from the National Federation of Independent Business.
View the video link below produced by Alliance Defending Freedom regarding the attempt to force a faith-based homeless shelter in Alaska to permit an inebriated man to sleep with women.
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