The appeal of Ashers bakery is due to begin in Northern Ireland this week. The business was fined £500 last year for declining to provide a cake bearing a pro-"gay marriage" slogan for a customer. "At one stage the [the Equality Commission] said that if we apologized formally for our actions it would go away," General Manager Daniel McArthur said. "But why should we apologize to the commission about that as we felt we did not do anything wrong?"
After a public hearing on Monday night, the Lewisburg City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations on the basis of "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" (among other things). Opponents of the measure are chiefly concerned that business owners will no longer be allowed to designate separate restroom facilities for male and female patrons.
A bill to repeal a rule allowing transgender individuals in Washington state to use public bathrooms based on their "gender identity" has cleared a state Senate committee. The repeal bill, S.B. 6443, passed the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor by a narrow 4-3 vote Thursday and now goes to the Rules Committee. The bill would also prohibit the Human Rights Commission from making rules concerning "gender-segregated facilities."
A powerful Georgia Senate committee discussed but took no action Monday on a contentious bill allowing religious adoption agencies, schools, government workers and others to refuse services to same-sex couples without being penalized. The Rules committee decides which bills receive a full Senate vote. State Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, chairs the committee and gave no indication Monday of plans for future hearings.
A debate is again building in Florida as conservative lawmakers back a proposal known as the "Pastor Protection Act." The proposal, which was approved this week by a Senate committee, would prevent clergy members from being forced to perform marriage ceremonies contrary to their beliefs. Religious conservatives are backing the bill in the wake of last year's landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that purported to redefine marriage nationwide.
The Virginia Senate on Friday passed two bills designed to prohibit discrimination against homosexuals and transgender people in housing and in public employment. The Senate also pulled back on a bill that would allow clerks of courts and their deputies to refuse to issue marriage licenses by citing their own personal religious, moral or ethical objection.
A state senator introduced a bill Thursday to include sexual orientation and sexual identity in Utah's hate crimes law. Sen. Steve Urquhart's bill, SB107, would more clearly define a hate crime as an offense against a person or person's property based on a belief or perception about their ancestry, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religion or sexual orientation. It also provides for enhanced penalties for someone convicted of a hate crime.
For a landmark study commissioned by Josh McDowell Ministry, Barna Group interviewed American teens, young adults and older adults about their views on and use of pornography. Among many notable findings, researchers discovered that teens and young adults have a more cavalier attitude toward porn than adults 25 and older. In addition, young adults ages 18 to 24 seek out and view porn more often than any other generation.
A Virginia senator's effort to allow local clerks to opt-out of issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples narrowly cleared committee Wednesday with a vote of 8-7. Senate Bill 40 will now go to the Senate floor. Sponsored by Sen. Bill Carrico, the measure would have the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles issue marriage licenses whenever a local clerk objects on "personal, ethical, moral or religious grounds."
The Nebraska Constitution should be consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling, a state senator told a legislative committee Wednesday. Under Legislative Resolution 389CA, introduced by Sen. Burke Harr, Nebraskans would be asked during the November election to repeal the state’s marriage amendment. But two groups—the Nebraska Catholic Conference and Nebraska Family Alliance—are opposing the measure.
The Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday passed a GOP-sponsored bill that would prohibit discrimination against homosexuals in housing and employment, among other things. The measure was immediately criticized by Democrats because it didn't include any "protections" for transgender people, while conservatives were against it because it could be used to compel Christians to violate their religious beliefs.
The Department of Labor is seeking to remove the terms "he" and "she" from a regulation prohibiting discrimination in the workforce in an effort to "avoid the gender binary." The agency is also adding “sex stereotyping, transgender status, and gender identity” to the list of types of employment discrimination banned under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The new rule will be open to public comment for 60 days.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will hear oral arguments today in G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board, a student privacy case that concerns an attempt by the ACLU and the Obama administration to force a Virginia school district to let a girl use the boys’ bathroom. Gavin Grimm—a 16 year-old girl—is challenging a decision by the Gloucester County School Board that barred her from using the boys’ bathroom.
Hawaii lawmakers have introduced a bill that would ban conversion therapy for minors. The bill would make it illegal for teachers or professional counselors to try to change someone's "sexual orientation," or even promote such a change through advertising. Republican Rep. Bob McDermott said he does not support the bill, because it would prohibit parents from considering treatment for children who are still "on the fence."
A bill that would keep boys out of girls bathrooms and vice versa in South Dakota schools is past its first legislative hurdle. The House State Affairs committee approved House Bill 1008 on Monday, with a vote of 10 to three. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Fred Deutsch, would allow students to only use the restroom of their gender, or perhaps a faculty or transgender restroom.
Despite a few voices of opposition, the Hawkins County Commission approved a resolution Monday asking the Tennessee General Assembly to oppose last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that purported to redefine marriage for the entire nation. The resolution was approved 13-3 with three abstentions. Commissioner B.D. Cradic, who sponsored the resolution, cited the Bible in his opposition to the Obergefell ruling.
A group of Virginia lawmakers on Monday held a press conference at the Capitol to discuss legislation that they said would ensure religious freedom. Introduced by Sen. Charles Carrico Sr. of Galax and Del. Todd Gilbert of Shenandoah, SB 41 and HB 773 would allow ministers and groups to refuse to participate in same-sex "weddings" on the basis of their religious convictions.
Omaha's board of education has approved a change to sex education standards after months of debate. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the new standards in elementary and middle schools. For the high school standards, one board member opposed. The new standards include discussions of sexual orientation and gender roles, as well as abortion and emergency contraception.
Male athletes should be able to participate in the women's competitions—and vice versa—without undergoing sex reassignment surgery, say new guidelines adopted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Under the previous IOC guidelines, athletes who wanted to compete alongside the opposite sex were required to have reassignment surgery followed by at least two years of hormone therapy in order to be eligible.
In a recent study, Barna Group asked Americans many questions about sex—including what they thought about traditional sexual ethics—and discovered that there is no broadly shared consensus among American adults. Half of U.S. adults (50%) agreed strongly that "choosing not to have sex outside of marriage is healthy." Practicing Christians (72%) were almost twice as likely as adults of no faith (38%) to agree with this view.
Democrats in the Arizona Legislature want to strike a law from the books that favors married couples in adoptions. The legislation introduced in both the Senate and House removes current language giving preferences to a husband and wife over others in adoptions. Backers of the bill claim the Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling warrants the law's removal. Whether the Senate version of the bill will make it to a hearing is questionable.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rep. Dan Bishop has promised to fight a dangerous proposed bathroom ordinance for Charlotte. “A small group of far-out progressives should not presume to decide for us all that a cross-dresser’s liberty to express his gender non-conformity trumps the right of women and girls to peace of mind in the intimate setting of a public bathroom or shower,” Bishop, who represents Mecklenburg County, said.
A Georgia lawmaker says religious adoption agencies, schools and other nonprofits should be able to refuse service to same-sex couples; months after the U.S. Supreme Court purported to redefine marriage nationwide. State Sen. Greg Kirk introduced a bill to accomplish that goal on Thursday. About 30 senators' signatures were visible on a version of the bill that Kirk held up at a press conference.
Yesterday, David Fowler, an attorney with the Constitutional Government Defense Fund, filed a lawsuit in Williamson County, Tennessee, on behalf of a number of ministers and concerned citizens over purely legal, constitutional issues created by the United States Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. "These courageous citizens have asked our state court system to ‘declare’ what the law is after Obergefell," Fowler said.
CINCINNATI, Ohio – On Monday, Liberty Counsel filed a reply brief to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Kim Davis, the county clerk who was jailed for following her conscience. The brief asks the court to reverse the contempt order that sent Davis to jail. “Liberty Counsel will continue to fight to protect the free exercise of religion. We will never give up,” Mat Staver, a lawyer for Davis, said.