LGBTQ – Page 21 – Family Council

Download Church Bulletin Insert on Fayetteville Ordinance

Nov 25, 2014JerryHomosexualityFayetteville, Homosexuality, LGBTQ, SOGI Ordinances

The group working to repeal Fayetteville’s contentious “nondiscrimination” ordinance has released a flyer designed to be included in church bulletins.

The insert identifies some of the problems of the ordinance and highlights the unintended consequences Americans have experienced elsewhere as a result of this type of legislation, writing,

“[In] Fayetteville Chapter 119 dictates the criteria by which churches hire their own staff for ‘secular’ roles. [In] San Antonio the original ordinance would have barred anyone speaking against homosexuality for appointed office. [In] Houston the [supporters of the ordinance] subpoenaed all sermons, emails & text messages of pastors who stood against them.”

This bulletin insert is a good resource for any church or minister wishing to inform people about the “nondiscrimination” ordinance in Fayetteville and the effort to repeal the ordinance on December 9.

Download the Church Bulletin Insert Here

Download Family Council’s Analysis of the Ordinance Here

Some Las Vegas Chapels Declining to Perform Same-Sex Weddings

Oct 27, 2014JerryReligious FreedomLGBTQ, Religious Freedom, Religious Liberty, SOGI Ordinances

According to the LA Times, some wedding chapels in Las Vegas are declining to perform same-sex weddings.

Same-sex marriage became legal by default in Nevada earlier this month, when the U.S. Supreme Court opted not to review a lower court’s ruling that struck the state’s marriage laws. Now some wedding chapel owners are declining to marry same-sex couples due to the owners’ religious convictions about marriage.

This is significant, because Nevada has a “public accommodation” law mandating “full and equal enjoyment” of public services regardless of sexual-orientation. Similar laws have been used against florists, bakers, and photographers who have declined to participate in same-sex weddings in other states. Because of this law, some are alleging that it is actually illegal for a wedding chapel owner in Nevada to turn away a same-sex couple.

We have written before about how these types of “nondiscrimination” laws carry unintended consequences. Proponents say the laws are necessary to prevent someone from being fired or denied service at a restaurant due to sexual-orientation. In reality, however, these so-called “nondiscrimination” statutes are used to force people of faith to participate in same-sex weddings, receptions, and similar ceremonies they find objectionable.

(more…)

Idaho, Houston Show Consequences of “Nondiscrimination” Ordinances

Oct 22, 2014JerryReligious FreedomHouston, LGBTQ, Religious Freedom, Religious Liberty, SOGI Ordinances

For several days we have followed two stories related to religious liberty in America.

The first is from Houston, where city officials are leaning hard on local pastors in order to get the ministers to cough up communications related to homosexuality and the city’s “nondiscrimination” ordinance.

The second is in Idaho, where–again, because of a “nondiscrimination” ordinance–two ministers face fines and jail time for declining to perform a same-sex wedding at their wedding chapel.

Both situations underscore the unintended consequences of these city ordinances. When cities start writing special protections for homosexuals and transgender people into the city code, they open people of faith to the threat of litigation and criminal prosecution.

(more…)