Coalition of Christian Groups Oppose EEOC Nominee

A coalition of conservative Christian groups is seeking to block the confirmation of Chai Feldblum to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

In a letter drafted by the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC), the groups claim President Obama’s nominee would use her position to infringe on religious liberty. They urged the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to reject Feldblum’s confirmation during a hearing expected to take place Thursday.

(Photo: Chai Feldblum)

The letter was signed by more than 100 people, including Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family, Liberty Counsel founder Mathew Staver, American Family Association President Tim Wildmon, Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and Rick Joyner of MorningStar Ministries.

A law professor, Feldblum has a long history of activism for gay rights and is a primary author of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.

The leaders claim Feldblum believes sexual liberty trumps religious belief. 

“According to Feldblum, a person’s religious beliefs (what she calls ‘belief liberty’) can be trumped by ‘sexual liberty,'” the letter stated. “When ‘sexual liberty’ and the constitutionally guaranteed right to the free exercise of religion conflict, Feldblum has stated, ‘I’m having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win.'”

TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty said Feldblum’s views are at odds with the mainstream.

“Her views are too radical and too contemptuous of the free exercise of religious liberty guaranteed by the Constitution’s First Amendment to allow her to define discriminatory practices in America’s workplace,” Lafferty said. “Religious citizens could not get a fair hearing before an EEOC where she would be a commission member.”