Jeff Sessions addresses group representing baker who refused to serve gay couple

By
Elizabeth Patton
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday delivered a speech to the religious freedom group that is representing a Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple in 2012.

Sessions’ attendance at the closed-press Alliance Defending Freedom‘s (ADF) Summit on Religious Liberty in Orange County, Calif. is drawing criticism as advocacy groups and Democrats across the country are questioning why the leader of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed to speak at the ADF group at all.

Founded by Dr. Bill Bright, ADF is best known for supporting socially conservative causes and advocating on behalf of religious freedom. Recently, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case in which ADF is representing Colorado baker Jim Phillips. Phillips made national headlines in 2012 when he refused to create a wedding cake for a gay couple. He is now challenging Colorado’s nondiscrimination law, saying he should be allowed to refuse service to same-sex couples due to his religious beliefs.

A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) criticized Sessions’ decision to speak to the group.

“You can judge a person by the company they keep and tonight – Attorney General Jeff Sessions is choosing to spend his time speaking in front of one of the country’s leading anti-LGBTQ hate groups,” Joel Kasnetz said. “Sessions’ appearance at this event, as the top law enforcement official in the country, brings into question whether the attorney general intends to protect all Americans.”

“ADF has been extremely active in pushing for so-called ‘religious liberty’ laws around the country that allow Christians to discriminate against LGBT people,” said the Southern Poverty Law Center who in 2016 designated the ADF as a hate-group, on their website.

“The nation’s top lawyer rallying with an anti-LGBTQ hate group? Outrageous,” the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a civil rights group promoting LGBTQ equality, said in a blog post Wednesday.

HRC was also troubled by the DOJ’s decision to keep Sessions’ remarks private.
“The attorney general has every right to speak to a group like Alliance Defending Freedom,” commented David Stacy, Government Affairs Director of HRC. “What troubles us is that his remarks are being kept hidden from the public at the same time he has been tasked by the President with issuing religious discrimination policies that ADF has long promoted.”
The DOJ did not respond to questions about whether the speech was in support for Phillips’ case. 

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Southern Poverty Law is a Hate group. They HATE Christians and are an advocate for the Democratic Party. The Alliance Defence helps protect Christians against anti-Christian Bigots such as the Democratic Party, LGBT advocacy Groups and SPLC.

  2. The LGBT is in the extreme minority. However, this small group insists on denying the Constitutional rights of others so they can further their agenda. I have rights as a citizen, business owner and a religious person. I have the right to express my religious rights as guaranteed to us by the Constitution. And that includes my personal space as well as my business space. Don’t like my religious beliefs, suggest you take your business elsewhere. That is my right and it is your right. Please, do not let this minority group tell you what you can say and who you do business with. Don’t like it, go elsewhere and find someone who will take your 2 dollar bill.
    Thank you Mr Sessions for defending OUR religious rights!!!!!!!!

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