December 9, 2009 – Washington, DC – A letter signed by the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) and hundreds of other pro-family organizations and activists urged the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions  (HELP) Committee to reject President Obama’s nomination of the highly controversial lawyer, Chai Feldblum, to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“Ms. Feldblum has a system of identifying rights which is separate and very different from that in the Constitution,” said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty.  “She uses terms like ’belief liberty’ and ‘sexual liberty’ and concludes generally that a ‘sexual liberty’ claim always trumps any objection or claim of those who are asserting a religious belief.

“Ask a typical American about ‘polyamory,’ and they would try to recall whether she was a sidekick of Winnie the Pooh or Pippi Longstocking.  Chai Feldblum has written extensively about polyamory – the practice of having multiple sexual partners concurrently.  She, of course, is in favor of it and wants the government to treat these “relationships” the same as one man/one woman marriage.

“Her views are too radical and too contemptuous of the free exercise of religious liberty guaranteed by the Constitution’s First Amendment to allow her to define discriminatory practices in America’s workplace.  Religious citizens could not get a fair hearing before an EEOC where she would be a commission member.”

In the letter addressed to Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Michael Enzi (R-WY), Traditional Values Coalition and other members of the anti-Feldblum coalition said:

“According to Feldblum, a person’s religious beliefs (what she calls “belief liberty”) can be trumped by “sexual liberty.”  When “sexual liberty” and the constitutionally guaranteed right to the free exercise of religion conflict, Feldblum has stated, ‘I’m having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win.’

“Feldblum ignores the fact that our Founding Fathers came to America to practice religious freedom, not just “believe” it. The First Amendment in the Constitution was created to guarantee and protect this right to practice religious belief.

“As a Commissioner at the EEOC, Feldblum would be in a position to implement what she has advocated for years: "Once a religious person or institution enters the stream of commerce by operating an enterprise such as a doctor's office, hospital, bookstore, hotel, treatment center, and so on, I believe the enterprise must adhere to a norm of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.’

The Senate HELP Committee is expected to vote on the Feldblum nomination Thursday, December 10.  If Feldblum is voted out of Committee, a floor fight is expected.