The Freedom From Religion Foundation commends Gov. Ricardo Rosselló for dropping a so-called “religious liberty” bill granting government employees exemption from serving constituents if this went against their religious beliefs.
The dismissal of the legislation comes just one day after pop icon Ricky Martin published an open letter Thursday condemning the proposed measure, which he called “an open door to hatred and discrimination.”
Martin added, “Authentic religious freedom calls for respecting everyone equally. As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom.”
FFRF applauds the decision to drop the legislation and activists like Martin who work to expose the true ambitions of bills like these.
“While the Religious Right repeatedly attempts to hijack the principle of ‘religious freedom,’ the purpose of these bills is clearly to codify the right to discriminate based on religious dogma,” comments FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
This bill mirrors similar template legislation proliferated by Project Blitz, the Christian nationalist’s nationwide push to inject legislatures across the country with a whole host of religious bills.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 31,000 members across the country, including in Puerto Rico. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.