The Equality Act: Transgender and You

In this episode, Barry Farah breaks down House Bill 5, known as the Equality Act. The Equality Act does a search and replace on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, swapping LGBTQ rights for minority rights mentioned in the 1964 Act. But it goes beyond the Civil Rights Act to grant not only equal rights, but special rights. Barry Farah explains how the Equality Act, under the guise of removing discrimination against the LGBTQ community, infringes on the freedoms of others. Barry describes how the Equality Act effectively ends women’s sports as biological males who identify as trans or female must be allowed to compete in women’s sports, for example. It would require businesses and nonprofits to hire trans individuals for reasons other than being qualified for the job. Barry Farah shows how the Department of Justice would be empowered to enforce these requirements. In addition, if passed into law, the Equality Act would do away with the Religious Freedom Act’s protection of faith-based organizations and churches, requiring that they hire people from the LGBTQ community regardless of whether they are aligned with the theology of these institutions. Barry Farah suggests that the Equality Act also discriminates against biological females by requiring that public restrooms or locker rooms be open for use by biological males who identifies as female, regardless of safety and privacy concerns. Barry Farah asserts that the rights afforded to all Americans should be experienced by members of the LGBTQ community, without granting special rights or taking away the rights of others.