Why should LGBTs settle for anything less than full equality? The "religious liberty" grievance is a ginned-up non-issue. No religious non-profit is subject to equal opportunity statutes unless it accepts taxpayer dollars, in which case no right exists to dictate to the government the terms of accepting public largesse. Church and state!

The controversy over the ACA was political. Catholic institutions has long provided insurance plans that included contraceptives, but as a house organ of the GOP the USCCB seized on the contraception mandate to oppose President Obama's plan to insure millions of uninsured Americans. Oh the tyranny of sending the feds an opt-out notice.

The driver of the "religious liberty" canard is the loss of privilege in a country where Christianity is the dominant religion. This is what passes for "persecution." There is actual, horrific persecution of Christians outside our borders. The church's energies might better be directed to addressing their plight.