Every election cycle, Americans hear the phrase, “This is the most important election of your lifetime.” A statement like this can lose its meaning and urgency, but in light of where America is headed regarding religious liberty and free speech, I am confident that this phrase couldn’t ring truer. The increasing prioritization of LGBT ideology under the guise of “anti-discrimination” in recent years guarantees that a Harris-Walz administration poses an imminent threat to Christians’ religious liberty and freedom of speech.

When 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris recently appeared on “The View,” she was asked, “[W]ould you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?” Without hesitation, Harris replied, “There is not a thing that comes to mind.” Let’s take Harris at her word and look at what’s been done during her time as vice president.

Over the past four years, the Biden-Harris administration has increasingly promoted LGBT ideology in any way it could and in every corner of society possible. On day one of the administration, the president issued an executive order directing federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), to expand the erroneous interpretation of “sex” as gender identity throughout the federal government. During Pride Month in 2023, the administration announced, “Through its United Against Hate initiative, DOJ will engage LGBT communities and other communities victimized by hate crimes.” The DOJ and several other agencies now have quarterly meetings with LGBT activists to discuss how the government can continue to further LGBT ideology.

According to the DOJ’s website, a “hate crime” is defined as an act of violence rooted in “bias against people or groups with specific characteristics that are defined by the law.” While there are no current federal laws that directly address “hate speech” as a crime, in 2022 DOJ launched a nationwide initiative saying the United Against Hate program would convene local forums across the country regarding community education on “hate crimes.” Topics for these forums include “distinguishing unlawful conduct from protected First Amendment activity, including identifying protected speech versus speech that advocates violence or encourages people to commit hate crimes.” But this is the same DOJ that labeled parents expressing their concern for their children over LGBT indoctrination as “domestic terrorists” and uses the FACE Act to punish peaceful pro-life individuals silently praying in front of an abortion clinic.” Can they really be trusted to make these distinctions?

In a recent appearance on MSNBC, 2024 vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) exclaimed, “There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech — and especially around our democracy.” This raises serious concerns about the potential future implications for free speech.

Theoretically, if a Harris-Walz administration were to appoint more ideologically left justices like Ketanji Brown Jackson (who doesn’t know what a biological woman is), there is a risk that cases could arise seeking to narrow First Amendment speech protections to accommodate expanding notions of “non-discrimination.” This could potentially criminalize speech that contradicts LGBTQ ideologies, such as the gospel. It was during Harris’s tenure as vice president that a record for the most LGBT-identified federal judge appointments was set, and with gradual shifts in legal interpretations, a Harris-Walz administration would be another step in this direction.

During a discussion on “The Howard Stern Show,” Harris unabashedly said, “I actually was proud to perform some of the first same-sex marriages as an elected official in 2004.” Throughout her political career, Harris has been no stranger to pushing LGBT ideology in America and shows no signs of slowing down — quite the opposite, actually. Considering the upward trend of discrimination lawsuits against Christians exercising their religious liberty in recent years, it’s highly likely that Christians will continue to experience legal opposition under a Harris-Walz administration, and possibly with less success, given the judges across the federal judiciary that Harris would most likely appoint.

One of the most threatening actions to Christians’ religious liberty and freedom of speech under the Biden-Harris administration has been its efforts around therapy practices. In commemoration of Pride Month, on June 15, 2022, the administration signed an executive order to “safeguard” LGBT-identifying youth from “dangerous practices like so-called ‘conversion therapy’ — efforts to suppress or change an individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.” Moreover, the administration ordered the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development “to develop an action plan to promote an end to its [conversion therapy] use around the world.”

In the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul instructs his readers to “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (5:11) and to “speak the truth in love” (4:15). This election could mean the difference between the legal freedom to uphold Paul’s instruction and criminal persecution for doing so. This election, now, more than ever in American history, Christians need to count the cost of what’s at stake when they vote.

Katie Crain serves as an intern at Family Research Council.