Equality Act, Part 2
A Time to Speak: Protecting Our Children
Part 2 of an investigative series by Calvary Chapel Magazine on the pending Equality Act
By Christmas Beeler and Margot Bass
Carrying severe consequences for the children of our nation, the pending Equality Act is one of the most far-reaching, discriminatory bills ever written against religious freedom in U.S. history. And it’s only one step away from being voted into law by the Senate. Christian leaders urge believers to contact their U.S. Senators this week and vote against the Equality Act (HR 5). President Biden has vowed to see this Act become law by April 30.
Touted as protecting gay rights, the Equality Act actually removes religious protection from individuals, businesses, schools, and ministries who do not embrace or advocate the gay lifestyle. Mat Staver, attorney with the nonprofit Liberty Counsel, stated, “This Act is devastating to churches and religious schools from Pre-K and daycare through college. Noncompliance to any aspect of HR 5 could result in private lawsuits from the Department of Justice, the State, and local levels of government.” The wording in the Act, he emphasized, “will force the LGBTQ lifestyle into every area of our lives by force of law.”
Endangering Children
Cissie Graham Lynch, granddaughter of the late Rev. Billy Graham and public advocate for faith and families, has reported on the dangers of HR 5. In a March 23 article she wrote, “Every American will feel the effects of the Equality Act, but it would hurt children the most. … Public schools, charter schools, and even some private schools, would not be able to do anything that could be considered discriminatory toward the gender identity or sexual orientation of a student or an educator.”
Cissie cited recent cases involving young children at schools with similar policies: At a school in Decatur, GA, with an inclusive bathroom policy, a 5-year-old girl said she was forcefully, sexually assaulted in the girls’ bathroom by a 5-year-old male student who identified as gender fluid in 2018. When a California teacher read a book to her kindergarten class about gender transitioning in 2017, “My daughter came home crying and shaking, so afraid she could turn into a boy,” one parent at Rocklin Academy said.
In fact, the Equality Act is so far-reaching that one disturbing result would be the enabling of pedophiles to work with children. Attorney Mat Staver explained the significance of the wording LGBTQ in the Act: “We all know what LGBT stands for: lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans. But the Q is everything in addition to that. It represents the entire universe of sexual paraphilias (there are 500+)—including pedophilia.” He added, “Not only does it apply to employment, but who teaches and cares for your children (including pedophiles).”
No Protection in the Church
Churches, since they work with children and youth, will certainly be affected, Mat explained: “Let’s say you took the youth on a camping trip. You could not have separate tents for the boys and the girls, or even a separate tent to accommodate an LGBT student. Or you would be in danger of criminal charges.”
And, if a person sought to protest any of these forced accommodations due to their faith, they would have no legal protection any more under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Another Christian attorney, Ryan Tucker of Alliance Defending Freedom, explained that the Equality Act “has embedded within it a statement that you cannot use the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as a defense to this law. The very best defense that people of faith would have, if [accused] of violation of this bill, would be taken away.” He added, “It will have an extremely damaging impact on the Church.”
Churches Seek to Educate Parents
Patti Height, a former lesbian who now serves Jesus and educates churches about lovingly reaching those in this lifestyle, recently shared her view on the dangers of pushing this agenda on children in a conference at her home church of Calvary Chapel Old Bridge, NJ (CCOB). (Read the full article in the upcoming Issue 88 of Calvary Chapel Magazine. View the online conference recap here.)
Patti declared, “Kids are lost in the false narrative of being able to choose their own sexuality and their own gender. These are children who are hurting and confused and swept up in the indoctrination that’s sweeping our land.” She knows from experience.
When Patti was 4 or 5 years old, “I was being referred to as a ‘girl’ when everything inside me was telling me that I was a boy. It was very confusing and troublesome for me; it hurt me and made me angry.” She began to self-injure at 5 years old. She was sexually violated. In her teen years, she experienced suicidal thoughts: “I didn’t know how to handle the pain.” The confusion continued, and in her 20s, she “came out” as a gay, gender-nonconformed person. She stayed in that lifestyle until after she was saved at CCOB many years later. (Patti’s testimony is available at her ministry website, outofegyptministries.org.)
“Lies—not the truth—brought me to suicidal thoughts,” Patti related. “All the voices I heard for years were lies: I could never be a woman because I was too boyish; if I was a woman, I would be sexually hurt again; if I wore women’s clothing instead of men’s, men would lust after me. Satan is the father of lies, and if we confirm someone in their own false identity, we are hurting them, not helping them.”
[Love] does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. 1 Corinthians 13:6
Patti reflected, “If someone would have told me about God and the way that He had created me, and that He loved me and had a plan and purpose for my life, it just might have helped. I didn’t realize there was another identity for me to proclaim. But I’m so thankful now that my identity is in Christ and Him alone.”
Praying for Those with Dysphoria
Many studies have shown that 98% of children who struggle with their gender—if they aren’t encouraged to change it—come to accept their biological gender as they make their way out of puberty or by adulthood, Patti explained.
At the conference, Pastor Lloyd Pulley of CCOB prayed, “Thank You God … for giving us eyes to see and ears to hear what’s happening in the … public school system. Give us a sense of urgency … to take action to protect our students and the students of the next generation, Father. We do pray for all those who are dealing with these thoughts of gender dysphoria who feel the weight of the world around them, pressuring them to think unbiblically [about their] sexuality. Thank You for Your love for them.”
Cissie Graham Lynch urged, “The Equality Act will only move forward if Americans choose to be silent. We must speak out about the dangers of this bill before we jeopardize the safety of our children and lose our rights as parents.”
The Equality Act (HR 5) was passed by the House of Representatives on February 25 and could be voted on in the Senate at any time.
What You Can Do:
Email your U.S. Senators (senate.gov)
Call the U.S. Capitol at 202-224-3121
Find out more about how your rights will be impacted by the Equality Act at lc.org/hr5 or adflegal.org/equality-act and consider supporting these nonprofits.
All verses above are quoted from the New King James Version, unless otherwise noted.
© 2020 Calvary Chapel Magazine. All rights reserved. Articles or photographs may not be reproduced without the written permission of CCM. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.® Used by permission.