Florida attorney general sparks debate on religious discrimination – Tallahassee Democrat

In just one week, Florida had three separate instances where its attorney general threatened legal action related to anti-Christian discrimination, part of a broader effort by the Trump administration looking to uplift Christian values and rights.
Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a letter to Microsoft, the American Bar Association and the city of Pensacola with accusations of anti-Christian discrimination. Uthmeier, appointed by the governor earlier this year, is Catholic and has taught religious education classes with his wife at a church in Tallahassee.
In Microsoft’s case, the software giant didn’t offer a nonprofit discount to Christian pregnancy centers. The ABA investigation stemmed from whether a Florida Catholic law school was adhering to its accreditation standards. And a Pensacola theater planned to host a drag show days prior to Christmas.
Uthmeier called out these instances in letters posted to his X account over one week. These letters similarly uphold religious liberty and often refers to the First Amendment clause that protects religious expression.
It also follows suit with the Trump administration’s agenda to combat discrimination against Christians, the largest faith group in the country and one that has a firm grip on political power in state, local and federal government. According to the Pew Research Center in a 2022 report, about 88% of representatives in Congress identified as Christian, for example.
Yet while many identify as Christian nationally, religious discrimination cases disproportionately affect Christians, said Michael Berry, the executive director of external affairs and senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, a conservative Christian legal organization. Berry said that while the government is “under the guise” of being neutral, neutrality also is also used to “censor and silence religion in the public square.”
“Just purely as a statistical probability, if there’s going to be religious discrimination, it’s going to come against Christians,” Berry said.
Berry said he’s encouraged by Florida taking steps to take anti-Christian bias seriously and follow suit with the Trump administration’s focus on combatting anti-Christian discrimination.
The USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida also reached out to several experts in religion or American politics on both sides of the issue, but none returned comment except one, who cited fears of speaking to a reporter amid employees being fired across the country for their speech after Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
But a lawyer with the Freedom From Religion Foundation instead called Uthmeier’s involvement an “overreach” and said it demonstrates a “fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment.”
These actions are “completely inappropriate,” said Chris Line, an attorney for the foundation. He said Uthmeier’s letters use “the power of government to advance a narrow form of Christianity and to punish perceived ideological opponents.”
“Florida is not a Christian state, and the United States is not a Christian nation. We’re all free to believe as we choose, but no one can be forced to accept religious dogma or discrimination under the guise of ‘Christian rights,’ ” Line said.
Uthmeier’s first focus was on Microsoft in a letter he sent Nov. 4. He wrote that Christian-based nonprofits were denied the nonprofit discount. Microsoft declined to comment, but in the letter Uthmeier accused the company of “religious discrimination” and being “hostile to Christian educational institutions.”
Next was the ABA on Nov. 6. The attorney general’s move against the ABA, which accredits law schools, stemmed from the organization determining that St. Thomas University’s law school in Miami Gardens didn’t follow the group’s anti-discrimination and equal opportunity rules. 
The ABA has been targeted by conservatives: A panel commissioned by Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muniz recently released a report outlining options for reducing what it called the Association’s near-monopoly on law school accreditation, for example.
A day later, Uthmeier wrote to Pensacola’s city council, where he said Uthmeier told the panel that it was within its rights to cancel the drag show set for days before Christmas.
He said that allowing the show to continue “may amount to religious discrimination,” saying that a city-owned theater hosting a show of “religious mockery” and that “openly disparages Christian beliefs” could put the city under legal trouble. He noted in his letter that some of the performers in the show have a “not-so-subtle” jab at Christian values, with names like “demonic Betty Bop” and “Trinity ‘The Tuck’ Taylor.”
“While the First Amendment safeguards freedom of expression, it does not require a city to platform and endorse disgusting, obscene content that denigrates its residents’ religious beliefs,” Uthmeier wrote in that letter.
Uthmeier’s office didn’t comment on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s concerns. But Line accused Uthmeier of “trying to use the power of government to advance a narrow form of Christianity and to punish perceived ideological opponents.”
He said Microsoft as a private company was allowed to decide who they work with, and that his urge to cancel the Pensacola drag show was a “personal religious crusade.” Line said: “The city cannot censor performances simply because some officials dislike their message.”
Berry said the goal of bringing awareness to anti-Christian discrimination is to ensure all faiths are treated equally, but a “vast majority” of discriminatory cases he sees at First Liberty Institute goes against Christians.
To critics, the federal government’s focus on combatting anti-Christian bias is pushing an agenda to “give Christianity preferential treatment.” Specifically, the organization criticized the Trump administration’s task force by saying it distorts religious freedom to justify “religious favoritism” and dismantle separation of church and state.
In April, The Freedom From Religion Foundation condemned the Trump administration’s creation of a task force focused on this issue, led by U.S. Attorney General (and former Florida A.G.) Pam Bondi. 
A statement in April from the organization’s co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor said: “This task force isn’t about preventing discrimination – it’s about weaponizing the federal government to push a Christian nationalist agenda.”
This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Stephany Matat is based in Tallahassee, Fla. She can be reached at SMatat@usatodayco.com. On X: @stephanymatat.

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