Daily Archives: February 26, 2017

Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who has served as domestic policy chair of President Donald Trumps transition team, told me in an interview on SiriusXM Progressthat the controversial religious freedom order that leaked to the press a few weeks ago is very much on the way,even though White House officials had played it down.

Earlier this month, The Nations Sarah Posner reported on the draft order, which would allow exemptions for those who oppose same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity, among many other things:

The four-page draft order, a copy of which is currently circulating among federal staff and advocacy organizations, construes religious organizations so broadly that it covers any organization, including closely held for-profit corporations, and protects religious freedom in every walk of life: when providing social services, education, or healthcare; earning a living, seeking a job, or employing others; receiving government grants or contracts; or otherwise participating in the marketplace, the public square, or interfacing with Federal, State or local governments.

At the time, Trump administration officials claimed the draft was among hundreds of draft orders circulating within the administration. We do not have plans to sign anything at this time but will let you know when we have any updates, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House spokesperson, told ABC News at the time.

But Blackwell, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council (deemed an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Policy Law Center), said in our interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) over the weekend that the order is far from dead. He also confirmed that the former director of Family Research Councils Center for Religious Liberty, Ken Klukowski, had actually structured the draft order as a legal advisor to Trumps transition team. Klukowski, who is now a senior attorney at the Liberty First Institute and a Breitbart contributor, is one of the lawyers in the process of redrafting it, Blackwell said, hinting that the original order may have been perceived as being too vulnerable to a legal challenge.

In the final analysis, what we want is an executive order that will meet the scrutiny of the judicial process, he explained. If there is no executive order, that will disappoint [social conservatives]. But a good executive order will not. So were still in the process.

Blackwell envisions the anchor concept of the order as one that will allow people with devoutly religious beliefs to turn away LGBTQ people in the course of business.

I think small business owners who hold a religious belief that believes that traditional marriage is between one man and one woman should not have their religious liberty trampled upon, he explained. I would imagine that that will be, strongly and clearly, the anchor concept [of the order]. (In an interview with me at the Republican National Convention in 2008, Blackwell had explained that he doesnt view LGBTQ people as a class of people who are discriminated against, but rather sees homosexuality as a compulsion that can contained, repressed or changed.)

Asked for comment about Blackwells statements at CPAC, Klukowski said that because its been publicly disclosed by people on the transition team that I worked on the transition, he was not at liberty to speak about the order specifically.

More broadly and as a private citizen [however], Kuklowski added, on the president and religious liberty: The president said when he was a candidate that there is a war on Christianity in America. And as someone who is a religious liberty lawyer who frequently represents the evangelical and Catholic communities in this country, thats exactly the sort of language that most people in that situation use. There has been unprecedented hostility against people of devout faiths in recent years. So the problem is there. Its been clearly defined. The president is aware of it.

Kuklowski said there are several routes to securing religious liberty, including the single most important thing, which is putting constitutional originalists on the federal courts and on the Supreme Court. And he said that Trump, who promised hed put originalists like the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the high court, is keeping that promise with the nomination of Neil Gorsuch, who is also an originalist.

In terms of administrative actions such as an executive order, Kuklowski said there are various types of actions that Trump could take, and he referred to federal law and federal programs that the president could affect. (He acknowledged that state laws protecting LGBTQ people could only be overturned via the federal judiciary, again stressing the importance of putting originalists on the federal courts.)

And Im confident, he continued, that the president is showing much to the shock of many establishment people who said, Theres no way thisll happen that he keeps his promises, even when theyre things that an establishment player would never do. And Im confident that hes going to keep his promise when it comes to protection of religious liberty as well.

Excerpt from:

Trump Transition Official: 'Religious Freedom' Order Is Still Coming - Huffington Post

Forbes

Duterte's Philippines Climbs The Rankings In Economic Freedom Forbes Duterte's death squads have been killing democracy in Philippines, but not economic freedom. In fact, the country gained a couple of notches in the recently published 2017 Index of Economic Freedom ranking. That's badly needed good news for investors ... Philippines Improves in Economic Freedom rankingCFO innovation ASIA all 2 news articles »

Link:

Duterte's Philippines Climbs The Rankings In Economic Freedom - Forbes

Even after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, there have been efforts to pass a religious freedom bill. LGBTQ rights advocates believe lawmakers anticipate support from the Trump administration. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption

Even after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, there have been efforts to pass a religious freedom bill. LGBTQ rights advocates believe lawmakers anticipate support from the Trump administration.

There are renewed efforts at the state level to pass so-called religious freedom bills. LGBTQ rights advocates believe that's because local lawmakers are anticipating support from the Trump administration.

In Alabama, there's a bill that allows adoption agencies that are religiously affiliated to hold true to their faith if they don't think same-sex couples should be parents. The psychiatric community has found no evidence that having same-sex parents harms children.

The bill is called the Child Placing Agency Inclusion Act. When it was first introduced two years ago, the bill didn't go very far. But since the election that has changed. For the first time the bill is listed on the Alabama State Senate GOP agenda.

"This bill has been fast-tracked through the House of Representatives with support from both Senate and House Republican leadership," says Eva Kendrick, the Alabama state manager for the Human Rights Campaign, an LGTBQ rights group.

With the choice of Jeff Sessions to be attorney general, the Trump administration has picked someone who is likely to be an ally on these state bills. Back when Attorney General Sessions was a U.S. congressman, he referred to separation of church and state as something that was "recent," "unhistorical" and "unconstitutional."

Sarah Warbelow, the legal director for the HRC, fears that the choice of Sessions as attorney general is a signal to local lawmakers.

"A number of states have introduced bills for many years that would allow child welfare agencies to discriminate on the basis of religious belief," Warbelow says. "But since this particular executive order draft leaked out, we've seen a number of states really begin the process of moving those bills."

In addition to the bill in Alabama, she says there are similar ones based on religious freedom that are moving more quickly in Texas, South Dakota and Oklahoma.

Even without the passage of the bill, April Aaron-Brush says she and her wife have run into problems trying to adopt. They already have a 10-year-old adopted daughter.

But for many years in Alabama, only Aaron-Brush could legally adopt her. Then the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, and now she and her wife are recognized as parents under the law. When they decided they wanted to adopt another child, they ran into problems.

"We've had several agencies that refused to call us back already because we were a same-sex couple although we've got marriage equality, and we're supposed to be equal" says Aaron-Brush. "But at this point in time, we're still having hurdles to jump over."

Aaron-Brush says the agencies didn't explicitly tell her they were turning them down because they are a lesbian couple. But all their forms asked about a mother and father and at least one of the agencies has a Christian affiliation.

Aaron-Brush has thought about investigating and perhaps taking legal action.

That's why religious agencies want protection, says Eric Johnston, an attorney who represents several adoption agencies in Alabama with a religious affiliation.

"They anticipated there could be problems and wanted to in advance think it through and do something that would be reasonable and to the benefit of everyone concerned on both sides of the issue," Johnston says.

The bill's sponsor in the Alabama House is Rep. Richard Wingo.

"The bill is saying that: Do not discriminate against these faith-based agencies and force them to place children foster or adoption into homes that go against their religious beliefs," Wingo says.

According to Wingo, in some states, religious agencies have closed rather than be forced to put children with same-sex couples. He believes keeping them open helps more children. And he says only 30 percent of the adoption agencies in Alabama have a religious affiliation.

So, he feels lesbians like Aaron-Brush have alternatives.

Wingo won't say how he feels about same-sex couples adopting.

"It doesn't matter what I think," he says. "If you are a follower of Christ then what matters is what does the word of God say. What does God say about it?"

Advocates for the LGBTQ community fear that this reasoning will soon make it harder for their community to adopt.

Read more:

LGBTQ Advocates Fear 'Religious Freedom' Bills Moving Forward In States - NPR

Thats the question one Midwest museum is posing to visitors.

Along the banks of downtown Cincinnati sits the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center a facility that prides itself on being a museum of conscience, a convener of dialog and a center that educates.

This month, the museum opened the Open Your Mind: Understanding Implicit Bias learning lab, designed to assist the public in understanding and recognizing bias and other forms of discrimination. The lab is participatory, involving educational and entertaining hands-on exercises.

Partnering with the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University, the lab also explores recent debates on implicit bias, which are the attitudes or stereotypes that affect a persons understanding, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner.

In fact, research has show that all people harbor implicit bias even if they seem to hold no explicit prejudice, says Jamie Glavic, director of marketing and communications at the center.

While at the center visiting the lab, which is free with general admission, visitors will want to check out a number of other exhibits including Faith and Fashion: The Crowns of African American Women.

The exhibit, which runs through April 1, highlights the various self-expressions of women of all ages and celebrates African-American church culture.

Church services are a time of worship and praise, Glavic said. Oftentimes, in African-American churches, in addition to hearing songs and sermons, observers cannot help but look in amazement at the various hats of its female parishioners.

In addition to exploring the various colors of crowns, personal narratives will account for the historical celebration of how Black women broken away from their domestic uniforms for Sunday services.

With more than 100,000 visitors annually, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center serves to inspire modern abolition through connecting the lessons of the Underground Railroad with todays freedom fighters, Glavic said.

Our physical location in downtown Cincinnati is just a few steps from the banks of the Ohio River, the great natural barrier that separated the slave states of the South from the free states of the North, she said. Since opening in 2004, we have filled a substantial voice in our nations cultural heritage, providing a vivid account of the inspiring narrative of the antebellum Underground Railroad.

This distinct experience is the tie that connects Americans to the universal and ongoing struggle for freedom, Glavic said.

We believe in inclusive freedom all people enjoying rights and privileges of equal kind, equal number and equal quality, she said. We teach people to embrace their common humanity and to realize their power to advance freedom - the birthright of every human being.

Other exhibits currently at the museum include a virtual experience that commemorates Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks historic demonstration and From Slavery to Freedom, which portrays three centuries of slavery from its introduction into the Americas to its abolition at the end of the American Civil War.

Beginning March 24, a new exhibit, Mandela: The Journey to Ubuntu, which commemorates the life and legacy of former South African President Nelson Mandela through photographs.

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, go to freedomcenter.org.

WHILE YOURE IN THE AREA:

Harriet Beecher Stowe House

Details: This house is operated as a cultural site and focuses on the life of the author of Uncle Toms Cabin.

Details: Located in Ripley, Ohio, this house along the Underground Railroad is one of the states best documented stations.

Excerpt from:

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center offers hands-on learning - nwitimes.com

Elyse Kitrakisof Southfield protests with Metro-Detroit Political Action Network to support the media against fake news claims by the president.(Photo: Clarence Tabb Jr. / Detroit News)

Sterling Heights

It appears the news does matter, at least to some people who marched in support of a free press Sunday.

About 220 people rallied for newspapers and other news media to protect the First Amendment under the administration of President Donald Trump.

Demonstrators outside the printing plant of The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press on Mound Road carried placards that read Democracy Dies Without a Free Press and The only security of all is a Free Press Thomas Jefferson, and chanted This is what democracy looks like.

Kent and Cindy Wethy of Holland said they felt compelled to show up.

Kent Wethy carried a colorful sign that read Truth is Not Fake News. He said the First Amendment, which provides for constitutional guarantees of free speech and a free press among other guarantees including freedom of religion and assembly, is under attack by the current White House administration.

I didnt think we would have to protest for (First Amendment rights) said Kent Wethy. Suppression of news is the first sign of a fascist government.

Cindy Wethy, who carried a sign that said Dont Bully the Press on one side and There is a good reason why it was the 1st Amendment on the other, said: You cant invent the truth. It is the sign of a tyrant. (Trump) is trying to tell us whats the truth.

Sue Willers of Royal Oak said she came out for the Sunday rally because she also fears freedom of the press is being threatened under Trump. This is a free country. We need a free press ... .

Trump has assailed the press for what he calls fake news and the dishonest media and the use of unidentified sources. His attacks energized crowds during his appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference and a recent rally. He has taken to calling the press the opposition party and enemy of the people.

Trump himself has disseminated information via his Twitter feed and in speeches that hes attributed to unnamed people. Infamously, he tweeted in August 2012 that an extremely credible source had told him former President Barack Obamas birth certificate was a fraud, a false claim.

Elyse Kitrakis said she was thrown by the tone of the White House when dealing with or talking about the press.

Cam Mannino protests with Metro-Detroit Political Action Network to support the media against fake news claims by President Donald Trump.(Photo: Clarence Tabb Jr. / The Detroit News)

Im just appalled at everything coming out, she said. The Freedom of the Press is essential to keep truth out there.

Adriene Avripas of Metro-Detroit Political Action Network who helped organize the rally said freedom of speech is not to be restrained in a free nation. The group is a grassroots organization that has organized other demonstrations and rallies to voice its opposition to some of Trumps executive orders including the White House travel ban, commonly referred to as the Muslim ban. Metro-Detroit Political Action Network helped organize rallies in Hamtramck and at Detroit Metro Airport on Jan. 29 opposing the ban.

Avripas said the rally at The News and Free Press printing plant was set there because the plant is a symbol of news organizations in Detroit and across the country.

We feel freedom of speech is important so we organized this, said Avripas. She said her group is planning more rallies next month.

Kelly Lett, who also helped to bring event participants together, said its important for the press to know they have people on their side still.

Kelly said she was concerned after some news outlets were reportedly locked out of a White House news briefing Friday.

Our forefathers fought to put in our Constitution the freedom of the press, which is the bedrock of a real democracy, said Lett.

The Associated Press and Bloomberg contributed to this report.

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Marchers rally for freedom of press - The Detroit News