Democrat congressman calls religious liberty a ‘pretext for discrimination’

Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney described religious liberty as a "bogus term" and a "pretext for discrimination.”

The New York congressman made the comments Monday on MSNBC while reacting to a Supreme Court ruling banning discrimination against gay and transgender people.

"And we know that Neil Gorsuch is a supporter of so-called religious liberty, which is a bogus term," Maloney said, describing it as a "pretext for discrimination hiding behind the guise of religion."

Makiney’s comments came after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Title VII Civil Rights Act protections barring workplace discrimination on the basis of sex also apply to homosexual and transgender individuals.

"In Title VII, Congress adopted broad language making it illegal for an employer to rely on an employee’s sex when deciding to fire that employee," Trump appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the Court's opinion. "We do not hesitate to recognize today a necessary consequence of that legislative choice: An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law."

During his interview Maloney also said that America would benefit if there were high schoolers in the nation's legislature.

"If we had more high school kids in Congress we'd be a better country," he said, adding that young Americans are leading progressive movements.