<p>This letter to the editor from DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke appeared in the January 13 2017 print issue of <em>National Catholic Reporter. </em>It was written in response to an article by Thomas Reese SJ entitled &nbsp;<a href=https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/faith-and-justice/time-compromise-gay-rights-and-religious-freedom>Time to Compromise on Gay Rights and Religious Freedom.</a></p> <p><strong>Well-intentioned but Problematic</strong></p> <p>I believe Thomas Reeses recent piece is well-intentioned but promotes some troubling myths about religious liberty religious exemptions and the LGBTQ community.</p> <p>First there are many LGBTQ people of faith and supporters who firmly support appropriate legal protections for communities of faith. This is not an us vs. them issue as Reeses piece implies. The question is really where the lines are drawn. This is the issue before several courts where they are determining what positions religiously affiliated institutions can legitimately claim as ministerial. Is a food service worker a minister? A math teacher? A nurse?</p> <p>Secondly many promoters of expansions of religious exemptions have tried to reduce the issue to wedding cake bakers florists and photographers being forced to work at same-sex weddings in violation of their religious principles. While Reese acknowledges that there are real dangers for LGBTQ people in being denied employment fired or access to vital public services he undermines this point by including these red herring examples.</p> <p>The real concerns faced by LGBTQ people and others who object to the expansion of religious exemptions involve being denied access to health care services housing employment and benefits. They are about things like having the only regional hospital refuse to provide accurate and complete information on HIV prevention contraceptives family planning or other reproductive health services even in emergency situations. This concern is significant as one in every six hospital beds in the US is now run by a Catholic health care agency.</p> <p>The concerns involve being denied placement of foster or adoptive children even when found eminently qualified by state standards. They are about anxiety over being fired by a faith-based employer over something posted on your or someone elses Facebook page and then reported by someone who finds your lifestyle objectionable.</p> <p>As president of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom Reese is in a position that has great power to shape the public debate on this issue. LGBTQ people certainly respect the rights of all people to practice their faith in ways that do not harm others but in order to protect ourselves we cannot be asked to compromise on issues that put our health livelihoods housing or dignity at risk.</p> <p>Marianne Duddy-Burke</p> <p>Boston MA</p> <p>(Duddy-Burke is Executive Director of DignityUSA.)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>