Louisiana state Rep. Mike Johnson (R), who introduced a controversial religious freedom bill, isn’t sure critics of the bill are being “intellectually consistent.”
Johnson rolled out a new website and video defending his proposal, called the Marriage and Conscience Act on Wednesday. The proposal aims to block the government from penalizing businesses for refusing to serve same-sex customers because of religious objections.
Similar religious freedom bills in Arkansas and Indiana received national criticism from opponents who say those proposals are thinly-veiled licenses to discriminate against gay couples.
That’s not how Johnson sees it, though. His argument is that critics aren’t being consistent because they wouldn’t support, say, a gay wedding vendor refusing to serve straight customers.
“Can you imagine a hefty fine being levied against a lesbian reception hall owner for refusing to host a traditional marriage rally at her venue?” Johnson said in the video. “Of course not. And although I’m a strong advocate of traditional marriage, I’d be the first to support the rights of those small business owners to resist. We have to be intellectually consistent in our positions and I’m not sure the opponents of the marriage and conscience act are.”
Johnson continued that the bill would just stop the state from pushing certain views on gay marriage.
“This new law would accomplish just one new thing: it would prevent the state from denying a person or entity something that they would otherwise be entitled to simply because of their view that marriage is a union between one man and one woman,” Johnson continued in the video.
Even though Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) has voiced strong support for the legislation, Johnson’s bill hasn’t been heard in committee in the Louisiana state legislature, according to The Advocate newspaper of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Johnson told the Louisiana newspaper he expected the bill to get a committee hearing in the next week or two.
Watch Johnson’s video below:
