The contentious fight over the balance between religious freedom and gay rights — dead on arrival in the split Colorado legislature in recent years — returns to the state Capitol this week for another round of debate.
House Republicans named religious freedom a key piece of their legislative agenda this year, with Minority Leader Patrick Neville pledging to strengthen First Amendment protections in his .
“No individual should be forced to participate in a service that conflicts with their religion and this session Republicans will again seek to give Coloradans religious freedom,” Neville said earlier this month.
The measure, , would establish a more rigorous legal test for any law that might be considered a “burden” to someone’s religious beliefs. Such laws would have to “further a compelling government interest” and be the least restrictive means of pursuing that interest.
It’s set for a 1:30 p.m. Wednesday hearing in the State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee.
A Lakewood baker who in 2012 refused to bake a cake for a gay couple from Massachusetts became something of a poster child for the national debate. The Colorado Court of Appeals in 2015 cannot cite his religious beliefs or free-speech rights in refusing to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
Religious freedom measures have been controversial across the country, with critics saying they could allow business owners to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals on the basis of religious opposition to same-sex relationships.
A coalition led by the Denver Chamber of Commerce is planning a press conference on Wednesday to highlight the “disastrous effects” similar laws have had around the country.
In Indiana and North Carolina, religious freedom measures over the last two years set off firestorms of protests and boycotts, with of both states.
It’s the third year in a row this sort of bill has been introduced, and success is as unlikely as ever. Democrats widely oppose the bill, and have a larger majority in the House than in years’ past.