"Religious Liberty and LGBTQI+ Rights: Navigating the (Sometimes) Conflict" with Chai Feldblum

Tuesday, Sept. 13th | 6:30-8:00pm | Fromm Hall
The seventh annual Swig Program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice Human Rights lecture was delivered by Dr. Chai Feldblum, a renowned civil rights advocate and scholar who specializes in issues regarding LGBTQI+ individuals, people with disabilities, and women. For many people, there is no conflict between the exercise of their religious liberty and their support of LGBTQI+ rights. But for some-especially those who believe that complying with LGBTQI+ civil rights laws infringes on their exercise of religion-this is a real conflict. In this talk, Feldblum, a former Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and one of the authors of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, discussed ethical reasons for acknowledging this tension, offering ideas for reconciling religious liberty and LGBTQI+ rights in a pluralistic society.