On 20 January 2016, the leaders of faith-based organizations, united to call upon the government and parliament to prohibit same-sex marriages to "protect the family from destruction". Under strong pressure from religious leaders, and contrary to promises that sexual orientation and gender identity would be included in the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination, members of parliament removed it from Article 18 of the Constitution at the last moment. On 20 July 2016, PINK Embassy published a press declaration criticizing the withdrawal of the constitutional amendments on discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, and criticized members of parliament for capitulating to religious intolerance warning that: "The submission of parliament to religious extremism is a threat to secularism and human rights".