GAY TRUTH

A Melbourne IT specialist engaged to work on the Safe Schools program was sacked after privately expressing concerns about the contentious initiative during a staff meeting, with his employer later accusing him of “creating an unsafe work environment”. Lee Jones, a Christian who was general manager of a business at the time, had told his boss he would work on the project despite his views but was dismissed regardless, according to a submission to a federal inquiry into the status of religious freedom. His predicament is just one of several cases of discrimination ­alleged by Christians or opponents of same-sex marriage that have come to light as part of the inquiry, which, in the wake of the Coopers Brewery fiasco, has heightened concerns about free speech and a growing intolerance towards traditional views. Other cases include a Victoria-based commonwealth pub­lic servant who was given a warning for complaining about being pressured to take part in a gay pride march. The man, ...

An African-American pastor who stood up for bathroom privacy says he has been attacked personally and professionally by gay activists determined to crush his business and turn his life into “chaos.” Bishop Kenneth Adkins, overseer at Greater Dimensions Christian Fellowship in Brunswick, Georgia, publicly opposed a Jacksonville city ordinance that would allow biological men to use women's bathrooms. At one point, he posted a picture of himself with a wig on Facebook and threatened to demonstrate against the transgender ordinance in drag. He said the citizens of Jacksonville should vote on whether to expand the city's Human Rights Ordinance rather than leaving the decision with city council members. At the third and final public hearing on the city ordinance in December, Adkins received applause when he   said , “We live in a time that Christians need a law passed to protect them. It’s crazy because we can no longer say what we believe.” The Jacksonville City Counci...