Connie Ryan, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, said religious freedom is already protected under the Iowa and U.S. constitutions.
“Religious exemptions tip the balance heavily in favor of someone's personal religious beliefs allowing them to discriminate against another person,” Ryan said in a statement. “The religious exemptions law weaponizes religious freedom, misusing it to take away the civil rights of another person.”
Earlier this month, Giani Surinder Singh, the head granthi of the Gurdwara South Jersey Sikh Society, delivered a prayer on the floor of the House of Representatives. Congresswoman Mary Miller (R-IL) wrote in a since-deleted X post that it was "deeply troubling that a Sikh was allowed to lead prayer."
Interfaith Alliance is proud to join The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and a broad coalition of civil rights organizations in signing a joint statement responding to the recent rise in antisemitic violence.