Gay Activist Organization Says Religious Exemptions in Fayetteville Ordinance “Too Broad”

Homosexuality, Religious Freedom, , , , ,

The Human Rights Campaign is the nation’s largest homosexual activist organization. We have written before about how the group is spending an estimated $1 million per year, on average, on its agenda in Arkansas at the moment.

Last year the group was heavily involved in the effort to implement a “nondiscrimination” ordinance in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The ordinance was overturned by voters last December–but only after a protracted campaign.

The Fayetteville City Council recently referred out a similar ordinance for voters to consider on September 8. Fayetteville voters will have the opportunity–once again–to keep or reject the ordinance. This time, however, according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Human Rights Campaign feels the religious exemptions in the ordinance are “too broad.” (more…)

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Fayetteville Residents to Rally for Religious Freedom Next Week

Religious Freedom, , , ,

On Tuesday, August 11, residents of Fayetteville, Arkansas, will rally in support of religious freedom and in opposition to the city’s proposed “nondiscrimination” act, Ordinance 5781.

The rally will take place on Tuesday, August 11, at 7:00 PM at University Baptist Church at 333 W Maple St. in Fayetteville.

Featured speakers include Aaron & Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes in Oregon. You may recall the Kleins were fined $135,000 and ultimately had to close their business–all because they declined to bake a cake for a same-sex ceremony.

On Tuesday, September 8, voters in Fayetteville will be asked to vote for or against Ordinance 5781, a “nondiscrimination” act very similar to the one voters overturned last December. Early voting begins September 1.

The group Protect Fayetteville, who is sponsoring the rally, is calling on voters to vote against Ordinance 5781 next month.

Ordinance 5781 carries many of the same unintended consequences as the ordinance proposed last year:

  • It fails to protect religious liberty;
  • It inadvertently allows men to use women’s restrooms, showers, locker rooms, and changing facilities–and vice versa;
  • It forces business owners–like the Kleins–who want to operate their businesses in accordance with their deeply-held religious convictions to choose between obeying the law and obeying their conscience.

You can find out more about the ordinance and the September 8 election at www.protectfayetteville.com. You can download a flyer about next week’s rally here.

Photo Credit: “Old Main from the northwest, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas (autumn)” by Brandonrush – Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.

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Silencing Christian Voices in America

Marriage, ,

You may be aware that a Christian couple who owned a bakery in Oregon has been targeted since 2013 for declining to bake a cake for a same-sex ceremony.

Not only has the judge in the case hit the bakers with $135,000 in damages; state officials also are trying to enforce a gag order against them, effectively preventing them from articulating the religious convictions by which they are seeking to live. (more…)

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