GAY TRUTH

A Christian church in British Columbia has petitioned the province's top court to reverse a city's 2018 decision to cancel the church's booking of a city-owned center for a youth conference after the city took issue with one of the event's Christian speakers. Grace Chapel is a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, located in downtown New Westminster. Part of Grace Chapel’s vision is to “build a multi-ethnic, diverse church where people of every nation in our community will worship God…” Grace Chapel does not have a church building of its own. Church events are held in rented spaces, including the municipally-owned and managed Anvil Centre. As explained in a recently filed affidavit , on May 25, the City of New Westminster signed a contract with Grace Chapel to rent a portion of the Anvil Centre. The rental was for a youth conference to be held on July 21, 2018. On June 21, 2018, a media article was published which included a picture of a poster for the confer...

Two prominent Christian groups are backing the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity as categories to federal nondiscrimination law in exchange for religious exemptions, a move that is dividing Christians. The boards of the National Association of Evangelicals and the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities have both recently approved motions as part of a long-term effort to preserve religious freedom, World magazine reported Wednesday. In October, the NAE passed a motion called "Fairness for All" which asks Congress to consider laws that regard human beings as made in God's image and that sexual relations be reserved for the marriage of a man and a woman; that long-standing civil rights laws and First Amendment protections guaranteeing the free exercise of religion be supported; and that no one should be discriminated against, face harassment or violence because of their sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The Council of Christian Colleges...

Yesterday,  World  magazine published a big scoop , reporting that two major Evangelical Christian organizations backed seeking a compromise between Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) law supporters and those defending religious liberty. The  “Fairness For All”  idea is that these Evangelicals would support adding SOGI protections to federal anti-discrimination law in exchange for religious liberty guarantees written into the same law. Excerpt: The boards of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) quietly passed similar motions in recent months, advancing a multiyear effort they say is necessary to preserve religious freedom. “As Christian higher educators, we are increasingly persuaded that the most viable political strategy is for comprehensive religious freedom protections to be combined with explicit support for basic human rights for members of the LGBT community,” ...

Current proposals to create sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) laws with varying types of religious exemptions would not result in fairness for all. The most prominent model for creating specific LGBT policies while showing concern for religious freedom is known as “fairness for all,” a phrase used by proponents to describe a law first adopted in Utah and similar proposals in other states and potentially at the national level. The “Utah Compromise” was a law enacted in Utah in the spring of 2015 that created sexual orientation and gender identity anti-discrimination policy in employment and housing, while also creating certain religious liberty exemptions and protections. Indiana attempted (but failed) to pass similar legislation in January 2016. Thus far, no fairness for all legislation has been introduced at the federal level, but there is a discussion among advocates about doing so. Instead, they would penalize many Americans who believe that we are created male and ...

Does the golden rule ever require bad public policy? That's the implication of what some political strategists are proposing in the name of fairness. At issue is a proposal among some Christian leaders to strike a compromise with some LGBT activists to balance "LGBT rights" with religious liberty. The proposal would elevate "sexual orientation and gender identity" (SOGI) to protected classes in federal law in exchange for certain exemptions for religious colleges and institutions. They call this approach "Fairness for All. " Compromises can be good, but this particular one is bad. As I explain in a recent issue brief , such proposals would not result in actual fairness for all. Instead, they would penalize many Americans who believe that we are created male and female, and that male and female are created for each other. They would violate the privacy and safety of women and girls, the conscience rights of doctors and other medical professionals,...