Some fear bill would violate religious tenets

CARSON CITY -- Religious activists testified against a bill Friday that they contend could force churches to hire atheists.

Although Legislative Counsel Brenda Erdoes said Assembly Bill 442 would not require churches to hire people who do not agree with their beliefs, witnesses were not convinced.

"Once the camel gets his nose under the tent, the rest of him follows," said the Rev. David Hoff of St. Paul's Charismatic Episcopal Church in Henderson. "I am sure the homosexual agenda relishes this."

Without mentioning her church by name, Nevada Eagle Forum President Janine Hansen gave an example to the Assembly Government Affairs Committee of the intolerance suffered during the 19th century by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

She then cited passages in the state constitution about how there must be the "perfect toleration of religious sentiment in this state."

But the bill might require her church to hire people whose values are foreign to the religion to work in churches and church-run day care centers, Hansen said.

"If we were forced to hire those antithetic to our religious and political beliefs, we would have to close down," Hansen said.

Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, the bill's sponsor, described it as a cleanup proposal to give the "same definitions" of what constitutes discrimination in public accommodations in current laws to other forms of discrimination.

"It is to bring consistency to the law," he said.

The bill states that a person cannot discriminate against people because of their "sexual orientation" in places of public accommodations, such as hotels, restaurants, bars, casinos, auditoriums, museums, day care centers or "any other establishment or place to which the public is invited or which is intended for public use."

Parks said that the law already prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and that the bill would simply better define what constitutes discrimination.

Before the hearing, Parks agreed to cut from the bill clauses that could have led to $25,000 fines being imposed against those who commit unlawful discrimination practices.

But Hansen and others expressed concern because Parks added the word "employment" to the bill forbidding discrimination in places of public accommodations.

With the addition, the Nevada Equal Rights Commission also would be directed to investigate complaints from people who charge they were discriminated against by employers because of their sexual orientation.

Erdoes, however, said she reviewed the bill and concluded that it would not violate anyone's religious tenets. Churches are exempt from the current law forbidding employment discrimination.

In response to Hansen's concern, Government Affairs Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, said she would ask Erdoes to prepare a formal legal opinion on whether the bill would force churches and groups like the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts to hire people whose beliefs or sexual orientation they oppose.

As a Scout leader herself, Kirkpatrick said she knows U.S. Supreme Court decisions allow them to choose the leaders they want.

A vote on the bill may be conducted after Erdoes releases her opinion.