In farewell, Hatch calls on religious conservatives to find common ground with LGBT community

[DonViejo]

By Eugene Scott

December 13 at 7:00 AM

-snip-

Hatch called on his party members to find some common ground toward advocating for the best interests of those who prioritize religious liberty and those who fight for LGBT rights.

Hatch said Wednesday:

“Nowhere is the pluralist approach more needed than in the fraught relationship between religious liberty and LGBTQ rights. . . . Religious liberty is a fundamental freedom. It deserve the very highest protection our country can provide. At the same time, it’s also important to account of other interests as well — especially those of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. Pluralism shows us a better way. It shows us that protecting religious liberty and preserving the rights of LGBTQ individuals are not mutually exclusive. I believe we can find substantial common ground on these issues that will enable us to both safeguard the ability of religious individuals to live their faith and protect LGBTQ individuals from invidious discrimination.”

Hatch pointed to the passage of the “Utah Compromise,” a bipartisan anti-discrimination law that he said strengthened religious freedom and protected LGBT Americans from discrimination, and argued that it could be replicated at the federal level and be a unifying piece of legislation that honors the diversity of Americans.

But it is not clear that the base of Hatch’s party is as interested in finding common ground between conservative Christians and LGBT Americans as the retiring lawmaker is.

The GOP has been home to white evangelicals since the election of President Ronald Reagan. And in addition to winning white evangelicals, Trump won the support of most white Protestant Christians and white Catholics. No group supports the GOP more than white evangelicals, as the 2018 midterm election exit polls showed. And no group is less supportive of same-sex marriage and the advancement of LGBT rights than white evangelicals, according to the Public Religion and Research Institute.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/12/13/farewell-hatch-calls-religious-conservatives-find-common-ground-with-lgbt-community/?utm_term=.0af839485753

[mucifer]

1. Back in the '90s Hatch worked with the HIV community in trying to get non FDA meds legal

People were very desperate to survive. I know Hatch had financial reasons for wanting to go around the FDA. But, he did work with LGBT people to get his bill passed.

That's why vitamins these days aren't regulated and you really don't know if the pills you are taking really are what the bottle says.

It's a pretty complicated issue.

[redstatebluegirl]

2. Does he have an lgbt family member?

This position seems odd for him.

[hatrack]

3. Nah, just trying to look all "senatorial" on the way out

on Hatch.