Obama: “Religious Freedom Is No Excuse to Deprive Others”

By Elisa Meyer --
29 Sep 2015 --

President Obama made significant remarks about religious freedom at a Democratic National Committee LGBT fundraising event in New York last Sunday.

Speaking at an event hosted by the LGBT community, President Barack Obama explained that the idea of religious freedom is not an excuse for anyone to deprive others of their constitutional and legal rights.

The U.S. President is one of the key speakers in a fundraising event of the Democratic National Committee LGBT in New York last Sunday. He was welcomed and introduced by Jim Obergefell, the gay plaintiff on a case that led the U.S. Supreme Court to favor same-sex marriage in June.

Obama: “Religious Freedom Is No Excuse to Deprive Others”[/tweetthis]

Obama’s speech focused on discrimination and gay rights. But the highlight of his message is about the conflict of religious freedom and of legal rights. According to Obama “We affirm that we cherish our religious freedom and are profoundly respectful of religious traditions. But we also have to say clearly that our religious freedom doesn’t grant us the freedom to deny our fellow Americans their constitutional rights.”

Clearly, Obama is referring to the case of Kim Davis, the Kentucky County Clerk who deliberately disobeyed court orders instructing her to issue marriage licenses to gay couples using the religious freedom argument as her defense.

Additionally on his speech, the president criticized politicians who are taking advantage of such issues just to gain votes in the upcoming presidential elections. Obama continued by saying that “Even as we are respectful and accommodating genuine concerns and interests of religious institutions, we need to reject politicians who are supporting new forms of discrimination as a way to scare up votes. That’s not how we move America forward.” It is worthy to note that Davis has since abandoned the Democrat Party and jumped to the Republican side after controversy.

NEW YORK CITY: President Obama Embraces Jim Obergefell At DNC's Glittery Annual LGBT Gala – http://t.co/rMdA83yG3l pic.twitter.com/9QmDhECR6i
— JoeMyGod (@JoeMyGod) September 28, 2015

The LGBT community has been one of the major supporters of the Democratic Party, particularly Obama in the past two presidential elections. On the other hand, it is also known to the public that the president supports the LGBT community including their advocacies. During his term, Obama also removed the restrictions for gay individuals wanting to join the military.

President Obama finally remarked that “And tonight, thanks to the unbending sense of justice passed down through generations of citizens who never gave up hope that we could bring this country closer to our founding ideals… we now live in America where our marriages are equal as well.”