Bill Description: House Bill 557 (H557) would ensure uniformity in the antidiscrimination law across the state by stipulating that the Idaho Human Rights Act preempts local ordinances. 

Rating: +3

Does it violate the principle of equal protection under the law? Examples include laws that discriminate or differentiate based on age, gender, or religion or which apply laws, regulations, rules, or penalties differently based on such characteristics. Conversely, does it restore or protect the principle of equal protection under the law?

H557 would mandate a uniform application of antidiscrimination law across the state by stipulating that the Idaho Human Rights Act preempts any local municipal “ordinance, policy, resolution, or decree that implements any antidiscrimination practice, standard, definition, or provision pertaining to employment, housing, educational institutions, or public accommodations.” In doing so, H557 upholds equal protection under the law by ensuring local governments cannot provide special privileges to certain classes of citizens that they would not otherwise be entitled to elsewhere in the state. 

(+1)

Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?

As noted by H557’s statement of purpose, “local government antidiscrimination ordinances are frequently weaponized to coerce persons engaged in business to choose either to violate their sincerely held moral, philosophical, and religious belief or to leave the market altogether.” For example, in 2023 the city of Coeur D’Alene attempted to coerce a local wedding chapel to conduct same-sex marriages. These ordinances violate the freedom of contract secured to all Idaho citizens under Article I, section 1 of the Idaho Constitution, which states “all men are by nature free and equal, and have certain inalienable rights, among which are enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing and protecting property; pursuing happiness and securing safety.” H557 upholds the Idaho Constitution by restoring the freedom of contract. Local municipalities should have no authority to deny this fundamental liberty on any grounds.

(+1)

Does it promote the breakdown of the traditional family or the deconstruction of societal norms? Examples include promoting or incentivizing degeneracy, violating parental rights, and compromising the innocence of children. Conversely, does it protect or uphold the structure, tenets, and traditional values of Western society?

In recent years, many local municipalities across Idaho have implemented antidiscrimination policies that extend special privileges to individuals based on their “gender identity or expression.” These policies are repugnant to the principles of the natural law by perpetuating the immoral fiction that there are additional genders beyond male and female. H557 upholds Idaho’s commitment to traditional Western values by mandating uniformity with the Idaho Human Rights Act, which notably excludes gender identity or sexual orientation.

(+1)