The two grants were part of a package of aid to fund various construction projects at New Jersey institutions of higher education. AU and ACLU-NJ pointed out that the two grants violated a provision of the New Jersey Constitution that expressly prohibits awarding taxpayer funding to ministries or places of worship.

Proposals to instill censorship in public libraries pop up from time to time, usually couched in the language of 'protect the children.' In the 1990s, Religious Right groups attempted to remove material about LGBTQ issues and “the occult” from public libraries by forming a pressure group called Family Friendly Libraries.

Voucher advocates, including the Trump administration, are arguing that if a state chooses to adopt a voucher plan, it must include religious schools – no matter what that state’s constitution may say. If this standard is adopted, it will greatly weaken, if not obliterate, provisions in 37 state constitutions that protect people from being taxed to support religion.

The very first thing the Tennessee Senate did when it reconvened last week was pass a bill to allow discrimination that would harm children in foster care. HB 836, passed by the House last year, would authorize taxpayer-funded foster care agencies to turn away couples seeking to foster or adopt children because they are LGBTQ or the “wrong” religion. 

Access to safe, affordable birth control is a vital part of Americans’ health care. It must not be blocked due to religious objections.

Never before has the Supreme Court ruled that states must fund religious education. It would be an extraordinary federal intrusion into the constitutional and public education affairs of our states.

Fowler and his clergy pals may not like it, but marriage equality is the law of the land, even in Tennessee.