Like so many of us, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) has had it with self-righteous Republicans wielding religion as a cudgel with which to oppress. In this case, the GOP is bleating the lie that granting LGBTQ citizens protection under the Civil Rights Act would be an infringement upon their religious rights.
Rep. Green had something to say about that colossally hypocritical and disingenuous argument.
"You used God to enslave my foreparents," he reminded them.
"You used God to segregate me, in schools. You used God to put me in the back of the bus," he continued, raising his voice.
"Have you no shame?" he thundered, pounding on the lectern in front of him.
"God created every person in this room! Are you saying that God made a mistake?" Then, Rep. Green stripped away the thin veneer of religion from what is truly at the heart of the GOP resistance to granting equality to LGBTQ Americans.
"This is not about God. It's about men who choose to discriminate against other people because they have the power to do so." If the GOP doesn't want to grant protections to this subset of citizens, let's not allow them to hide behind "God" as their reason. Expose them for the cruel, shallow beings that they are.
He concluded, "My record will not show that I voted against Mr. Cicilline having his rights. My record will show that when I had the opportunity to deliver liberty and justice for all, I voted for rights for all!"
With that, there was applause in the chamber. But only from one side of the aisle.
