- Virginia lawmakersare poised to pass bills

that could impact how churches

and other faith-basedorganizations operate.

The controversial billsfocus on discrimination

in public places and employment,

based on a number of factors,

including gender and sexual orientation.

Opponents say the bills infringeon the religious beliefs

of churches and privatefaith-based schools

by dictating who may attend or work there,

and even how their restrooms are set up.

In a speech opposing the measure,

Republican David Larock said,

"Make no mistake, this billis intended to dismantle

religious freedom andto force the government

to make everyone conform to its version

of marriage and sexuality."

The Family foundation helda press conference today

on this very issue,

and its president, VictoriaCobb joins us live now

for some perspective.

Victoria, there are a number of bills

making their way throughthe Virginia legislature

right now, but three or four of them

are of particular concernto the Christian community.

Can you elaborate?

- Well, certainly, we've long had a debate

about government policywith regard to these issues

of sexual orientationand nondiscrimination,

but now these billshave stepped way beyond

just a simple policy about how government

is gonna handle its own employees,

and it steps into the private sector,

both in the world of business

and in private organizations

that can be anything fromsocial service organizations

all the way to Christianschools and churches

or places of worship.

- What is at risk if thesebills are passed as is?

Talk a little bit more

how it could changefaith-based institutions.

- Well, fundamentally,what these bills say

is that there is one view ofsexuality and gender identity,

and that that view hasto be held by everyone

if they're gonna operateanywhere involving the public.

And so, it's a terribly wide definition

of what accommodating thepublic actually means.

So essentially, it tellsChristian schools and churches

how you must hire, fire,

how you must organize your bathrooms,

and even what kind of pronouns you'll use

when dealing with people.

Essentially, we believeit's set up to dominate

and take over and actuallycreate a new theology

within a lot of churches thatwe simply don't agree with.

- How does the current environment

in the Virginia state house differ

from past years, I mean,

have we ever seen proposalslike these before?

- We've never seen things

that completely infringeon religious freedom

to this degree, where they wouldshut down adoption agencies

for simply not adopting tonon-traditional families,

where Christian schools wouldhave to allow transgenders

in biologically boy or female bathrooms.

We've never seen anythinglike this, and unfortunately,

the environment down here is not simply

just taking wide new sweeping policy

and considering it, it's actually passing

with very little debate and discussion,

and real hard conversationsabout who these bills impact,

and what kinds of ministries and schools

might be threatened bythe bills that they pass

in their current form.

- Victoria, what's next?

How does the Family Foundationfighting against this,

and what will you do if these bills pass?

- Well, we're deeply concerned

that it's gonna be very difficult

to completely stop the bill from passing,

so our goal at this point

is to at least get clear amendments

that remove any possibility

that a church or Christian school,

an entity that is a faith-based entity

would have to complywith these regulations.

But certainly, if it doespass, I'll be honest with you,

we expect to launch right into litigation.

They're unconstitutional,they're a violation,

not just of our freedom of religion,

to exercise our faith, butfreedom of association,

and even freedom of speech,

if we're gonna compel peopleto use certain pronouns.

And in Virginia,

where the birthplace ofreligious freedom is,

where we penned the statuteof religious freedom

that became the model forthe western hemisphere,

we can't stand for that here.

- All right, Victoria Cobbof the Family Foundation,

thank you so much for your timeand your insights, Victoria.