The Equality Act does not include any religious exemptions. It could directly impact churches and ministries by preventing them from being able to live out biblical beliefs about marriage, sexual morality, and the distinction between the sexes. It could force churches to open sex-specific facilities to members of the opposite sex. It could compel ministries and Christian business owners to pay for health coverage that includes procedures that go against their deeply held convictions such as “sex reassignment” surgeries. It could even forbid houses of worship from ensuring that their employees abide by their doctrines or beliefs about marriage, sexual behavior, and the distinction between the sexes.

To make matters worse, the Equality Act would not allow religious individuals and organizations to use the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to defend themselves from the threats it creates.

The Equality Act could mandate that men who identify as women be allowed to compete in the female category for women’s athletic titles, and women’s scholarships. It could also violate women’s privacy and dignity by forcing women’s-only shelters and other private, intimate spaces, like locker rooms and dressing rooms, to be open to men.

It could force doctors, counselors, and healthcare practitioners to violate their conscience by prescribing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and “sex-reassignment” surgery to otherwise healthy children who are struggling with their gender identity, even though such treatments cause grave and often irreversible harm. It could even force pro-life hospitals and doctors to perform or facilitate abortions.

It would harm the over 400,000 children in our nation’s foster care system by punishing faith-based adoption and foster care providers who refuse to contradict their belief that God created men, women, and families such that children thrive best in homes with a married mother and father.

It would deny federal financial aid to students at faith-based colleges and universities unless the schools abandon policies and practices reflecting their sincerely held beliefs about marriage and sexuality. It may even forbid religious educational institutions from admitting only students who share the school’s beliefs. The Equality Act will also cut off federal tuition assistance to students at single-sex institutions of higher education – and may even make such schools illegal.

It would target people of faith, including photographers, videographers, floral artists, and cake artists, who willingly serve people from all backgrounds, by forcing them to promote messages and celebrate events that conflict with their religious beliefs. State and local laws similar to the Equality Act have been used to punish creative professionals like Jack Phillips, Barronelle Stutzman, and Blaine Adamson.