State legislatures across the country became showcases for Christian nationalist legislation in 2018. Leading the charge was the ominously named Project Blitz—a coalition of Christian Right groups that are unambiguous about their intentions for the short and long term, to restore America to a Christian nation that never was. The campaign, which I first reported on for Religion Dispatches, has captured the attention of a wide range of organizations, from American Atheists, and the Public Rights/Private Conscience Project at Columbia University Law School, to the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and the Human Rights Campaign. It also captured the attention of national media outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, Religion News Service, Church & State magazine, and Salon.

The Christian Right groups behind Project Blitz—The Chesapeake, Virginia-based Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation; the National Legal Foundation; and the Wallbuilders Pro-Family Legislators Conference—have published a new state legislative playbook for 2019. This year’s playbook has grown from 116 to 148 pages, thanks to some new bills, a discussion of three areas of “Prime Focus,” a new section on responding to critics, and a model resolution condemning religious persecution elsewhere in the world. But what’s past is certainly prologue with Project Blitz.
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The second Prime Focus, “Resolution Establishing Public Policy Favoring Intimate Sexual Relations Only Between Married, Heterosexual Couples” was published in the current and previous playbooks. The apparent purpose of the nonbinding model resolutions is to help to persuade legislators and executive branch program administrators that not only religious, but also public health, exemptions from the law need to be created, and perhaps litigated, to chip away at marriage equality so that not all marriages need be treated equally under the law. In addition they aim to more generally erode the rights of LGBTQ people. Resolutions on heterosexual marriage, birth gender, and adoption are, they assert, intended to advance “biblical values.”
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It’s important to note that the Prayer Caucus’ particular disdain for transgender people is evident in the proposed “Resolution Establishing Public Policy Favoring Reliance on and Maintenance of Birth Gender” and talking points to “Counter Adding ‘Gender Identity’ as a Civil Rights Category.” In the “Fact Sheet” accompanying the proposed resolution to favor and maintain birth gender, the playbook’s thin scientific basis and strong religious bias become clear. The playbook frequently cites the work of Paul McHugh, disgraced former director of John’s Hopkins University’s Department of Psychiatry. McHugh left the University after decades of denying affirming, comprehensive health care to transgender patients, and has spent his career since continuing to advocate against care for trans people. McHugh was a featured speaker at the 2018 Values Voter Conference sponsored by the Christian Right’s Family Research Council.

https://rewire.news/religion-dispatches/2018/12/18/ringing-in-a-christian-nationalist-2019-with-an-even-larger-legislative-playbook/