Churches, ministries, schools, and Christian-owned businesses signed an open letter to Gov. Ralph Northam and members of the Virginia General Assembly that urges them not to force religious citizens to violate their beliefs under the so-called “Virginia Values Act.”
The law compels churches, religious schools, and Christian ministries to hire employees who do not share their stated beliefs on marriage, sexuality, and gender identity — or face fines of up to $100,000 for each violation.
A companion law requires the ministries and other Christian nonprofits and Christian-owned businesses to include in employee health care plans coverage for “sex reassignment” and “gender affirming” surgeries that run contrary to their beliefs. It also prohibits the ministries from offering sex-specific sports, classes for parenting, and Christian discipleship, if those programs are based on biological sex.
ADF Senior Counsel Denise Harle said, “Our clients offer spiritual guidance, education, pregnancy support, and athletic opportunities to their communities because of the religious values that motivate them. But Virginia’s new law forces these ministries to abandon their convictions or pay crippling fines. Such government hostility has no place in a free society.”