Religious freedom – that is President Trump’s reasoning for his newest executive order. The order has not yet been signed and put into place, but the draft was leaked in mid-February. The order argues that someone’s religious beliefs are enough to justify them not providing goods and services to members of the LGBTQ community. The draft is very broad; therefore, it allows for discrimination against the LGBTQ community in numerous categories of life. This also applies to unmarried women, and anyone having sex in a non-heterosexual marriage.

 This order could include making taxpayer funds discriminatory against LGBTQ people in social services, allowing federally funded adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ parents, and eliminating non-discrimination protections so that it is possible to fire federal employers and contractors because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. It would also allow federal employees to refuse to serve people if they believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman and that gender is an unchangeable characteristic set at birth.

 “Well I can see it from their point of view, like how it can be offensive. If you serve them, you’re technically saying that you agree with their decisions,” said sophomore Marina Botros.

 This order applies to not only religious beliefs on same-sex marriage, but also sexual relations in general. A national pharmacy chain can decide to refuse to fill prescriptions for the morning after pill, and companies can fire employees for being pregnant out of wedlock or for being HIV positive. Also if a public school wants to stop teaching sex ed, that would be legal. No actual religious contradictions are necessary, just some moral conviction that sex is only okay when it is within a heterosexual marriage.

 Here is a direct excerpt from President Trump’s order: (2) on the basis that such person or organization believes, speaks, or acts (or declines to act) in accordance with the belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, sexual relations are properly reserved for such a marriage, male and female and their equivalents refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy, physiology, or genetics at or before birth, and that human life begins at conception and merits protection at all stages of life.

 If President Trump does sign the order, it would direct federal agencies to undo any civil rights protections for LGBTQ people and unmarried women. After viewing the leaked draft, LGBTQ advocates have been immensely concerned that this order could be signed and put into place by President Trump.

 Senior Kelly Hruska, president of GSA, proudly voices her opinion and stands up for trans people: “I wish I could say I was surprised that it got passed, but I’m not surprised at all. It was disappointment for sure, but I was kind of expecting it since I found out he was elected back in November. The guidelines affect transgender people more than anyone else, and to me it’s blatant discrimination against transgender people… But I also know there’s an amazing community of people at Millbrook who realize how wrong and discriminatory these guidelines are. There are so many amazing cisgender allies who speak up against these injustices,  who know that their privilege can be used to combat discrimination.”