October 05, 2012 09:22 PM UTC

Tipton Supports ENDA? Better Ask Twice

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• by: Colorado Pols

ThinkProgress with a potential bombshell in Colorado’s CD-3 race:

A Republican Congressman has broken with his party and announced his support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a key piece of legislation that would make it illegal to discriminate against LGBT individuals in the workplace.

“I don’t believe we ought to be discriminating against people for their private lives,” Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO) explained to ThinkProgress outside Wednesday’s presidential debate. “I’m a businessman. When you walk in the door, if you’re able to do the job and you’re focused on your job, that’s all that’s important…”

[THINKPROGRESS]: So you would probably be voting in favor of something like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act?

TIPTON: Yeah, yeah. I don’t believe we ought to be discriminating against people for their private lives. [Original emphasis]

To be clear, we’re talking about the same gay rights legislation, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), that Focus on the Family says without any doubt “will jeopardize the First Amendment freedom of religious expression and harm American businesses.”

If passed, ENDA will require employers to police the workplace to eliminate viewpoints contrary to the promotion of homosexuality and “transgenderism.” This means the bill will inevitably threaten the religious beliefs of those who oppose homosexual behavior. What will happen when homosexual or “transgender” employees object to: religious articles on employees’ desks; water cooler discussions about biblical morality; Bible verses taped to cubicle walls; fliers on company bulletin boards advertising discussions concerning traditional marriage? Religious liberty violations have already occurred in states with ENDA-type laws, including California, Minnesota, Colorado, and Idaho, and many of these cases are in litigation.

If passed, ENDA will also increase compliance costs for businesses and open the door to expensive lawsuits. Employers will be forced to consult legal counsel in order to upgrade their employment manuals, policies and procedures and train human resource staff to understand and comply with these confusing new employment discrimination categories.

Politically, a decision by Rep. Scott Tipton to endorse ENDA would be a mixed bag: while pleasing gay rights advocates and complicating arguments against Tipton from liberal Democrats, he would also be placing himself squarely in opposition to the religious right–as we saw in the Jean White vs. Randy Baumgardner SD-8 primary, a substantial constituency among the Western Slope Republican base. It’s tough to say whether the risks outweigh the benefits for someone frequently described as a “Tea Party Republican.”

Which is why he needs to be asked again, to make sure he understands what he endorsed.