Washington, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) released the following statement on the Trump Administration’s plan to add a religious exemption to Executive Order 11246, gutting critical federal nondiscrimination protections:

“Today, the Trump Administration once again demonstrated its hostility towards LGBTQ Americans, minorities, and women by announcing its intention to effectively gut a key federal nondiscrimination protection.  This is yet more evidence that we need to enact H.R. 5, the ‘Equality Act,’ which the House passed with bipartisan support earlier this year.  The Equality Act would explicitly provide broad federal protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in key areas of life and ensure that religious liberty is used as a shield to protect religious minorities, not as a sword to discriminate against LGBTQ people, other minorities, and women.  The Senate must pass the Equality Act immediately.”