Paducah City Commission Considers Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Language

Paducah, KY—  A Kentucky organization that advocates for religious freedom is asking the Paducah City Commission to drop sexual orientation and gender identity language from its proposed revision of the human rights ordinance. Richard Nelson, executive director of the Commonwealth Policy told Greg Dunker on his Tuesday morning radio program that the ordinance isn't needed. 

 

"How many documented cases of this kind of discrimination are going on in Paducah?" Nelson asked. "If there is no discrimination going on, why is the language needed?" Nelson points out that including sexual orientation and gender identity into local human rights laws is often used to coerce and bully those run their business according to their religious principles.

 

Bakers, florists and photographers have been fined and some threatened with jail time for refusing to provide their goods or services for homosexual weddings. "To be clear, we're not talking about declining service to an individual," Nelson said. "We're talking about an event that many believe to have religious significance." He added that "nobody is for unjust discrimination, but what about the unjustly punishing business owners for their deeply held religious convictions?"