GAY TRUTH

A diverse coalition of faith-based college leaders say they feel like the Supreme Court holds the fate of their institutions in its hands this term. They’re closely following a high-profile trio of sex discrimination cases about whether federal employment nondiscrimination law protects gay and transgender employees. And yet, none of the employers involved in the cases are religious institutions. So why are faith-based schools so concerned? In a legal brie f filed Friday by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, Brigham Young University and 40 other religious schools, campus leaders explain how the cases could change life as they know it. They argue that a ruling in favor of a broad interpretation of sex discrimination could devastate their ability to operate in accordance with their beliefs. “Student housing standards would face new pressure. Affiliated clinics and hospitals could be compelled to provide religiously objectionable medical procedures. A religious unive

 “ Speak softly and carry a big stick ” summed up American President Theodore Roosevelt ’s foreign policy in the early years of the 20th century. “Wrap yourself in a rainbow and carry a big stick” is becoming US foreign policy in the early years of the 21st century. The latest example of the United States forcing LGBT views upon smaller countries who depend on American aid and trade comes from the Dominican Republic . In 2013 President Obama appointed Wally Brewster Ambassador to the Caribbean nation of 10 million people. Mr Brewster, a top LGBT fundraiser for the President, took up residence with his husband, Bob Satawake. Both men had been gay rights activists back in the US. They have brought a reforming zeal to the Dominican Republic. This week the  New York Times ran a  profile  of Mr Brewster, painting him as a benevolent tutor in human rights for a benighted, largely-Catholic nation. It closed with a note of gratitude to the ambassador from a young gay man: “I ha