- You have worked in Washington for years.

Your organization,Alliance Defending Freedom,

defends religious libertyin countless spheres

of our society.

What is your take on theEquality Act as we know it

at this time and what itmeans to religious liberty?

- Well, the Equality Act isnot equal rights for anybody

in any reasonable, ordinaryunderstanding of that term.

It's a direct assaulton religious liberty.

It's a direct assault onwomen in many respects

and it's a direct assault on the unborn.

There are seven particularareas that are of concern

in the Equality Act, religiousfreedom being probably

at the top of the list.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act,

that I helped write in 1994,

is being repealed

in this context.

It says that in theareas of LGBT or abortion

or related sexual issuesyou get no more protection

from the Federal ReligiousFreedom Restoration Act,

which is an incrediblydangerous proposition,

a direct repeal of religiousfreedom in that context.

- Yeah, let's pause for just a moment.

Can you just unpack that?

What does that mean thatthat Religious Freedom

Restoration Act no longer means anything?

- Well, the way REFRA was written,

it sits on top of all federal law

and provides, basically,a quasi-constitutional

protection for religious freedom,

as a matter of civil rights,

over and above anything elsein the federal statutes.

Unless Congress specificallysays, in this area

the religious freedomprotections don't apply.

And so that's what's goingon here in the Equality Act.

So in areas of LGBT, in areas of Title 9,

in the areas of sanctityof life and free speech,

and the other areas touchedon by the Equality Act,

if it interferes withreligious freedom in any way,

religious freedom normally would have

a statutory protection, butthat statutory protection

is gone because of this provision.

It's a direct assault.

Now, the Supreme Court could

reinstate our constitutional rights here,

but that's why REFRA was written,

because a bad Supreme Courtdecision made that necessary.

We're all familiar withthe Hobby Lobby case.

Hobby Lobby won religiousfreedom to not fund abortions

in their insurance, notby the First Amendment,

as it should have been, but by REFRA,

by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

And so, Congress has tried to in the past

make things right where theSupreme Court messed it up,

but now Congress is tryingto mess it up as well.

And so religious freedomwould be left in the dirt.

- All right, and you, of course, have been

in the education world for years.

What would the Equality Actmean to Christian colleges,

mean to Christian schools, K through 12?

- Well, it would repeal the protection

that Christian colleges havein Title 9, for example,

transgender men wantingto play in women's sports

would be one example of that.

It would apply to all collegesthat are subject to Title 9.

Currently that's designedto protect women.

And so women would loseopportunities to transgender men

in that context.

Dormitories in Christian colleges,

many other aspects,other private facilities

for both churches and Christian colleges

would be attacked by this.

So the attack on religiousinstitutions is direct

and clear and the statute wouldsay all Christian colleges,

just like all other colleges,would have to toe the line

to the LGBT new orthodoxy.

- Mike Farris, withAlliance Defending Freedom.

Thanks for your time.

- Thank you so much.