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Virtually all of the religious claims that
you refer to involve efforts to exclude, marginalize or, perhaps, even worse. Of
course those who are excluded or marginalized, or worse, would resist, as well
they should. From: Marc Stern
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] You could add the op[position to enhance d
protection for religions workers in the workplace because such legislation
might empower claims impinging on gay rights, gay groups that sued Yeshiva
University over it refusal to allow gay couples access to a married only
dorm in its medical school, the opposition to an exemption for Catholic
Charities in Boston, the suit over doctors refusing to assist lesbian
couple have a child by artificial insemination and on and on….What ever
the merits of particular suits, there has been as pattern of opposition to
religious claims in the gay rights context. . Marc Stern f From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Douglas Laycock From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Newsom Michael Could you give some examples of gay rights
proponents who ignore religious liberty interests? Doug Laycock's Answer: The gay
rights groups organized and led the charge that killed the Religious Liberty
Protection Act. They did it by insisting on a categorical exception
for all civil rights cases, refusing to rely on the case law that most civil
rights claims present compelling interests or their own view that all
civil rights claims present compelling interests. "All civil rights claims" would
include challenges to the male-only priesthood. It would include claims
of religious discrimination in awarding membership or leadership positions in
churches and other religions organizations. In At the state and local level, gay rights
groups insist on no religious exemption to gay rights laws or, if they can't
prevail on that, the narrowest possible definition of religious organizations
entitled to exemption. I assume it was these recurring political
conflicts, in which gay rights groups simply refuse to recognize any competing
interest on the other side of the table, that Alan Brownstein was referring to,
and not the occasional acts of disruptive protest. Of course many of the conservative
religious groups are equally intractable with respect to gay rights
organizations. In the particular case of RLPA, most of them were at
all time willing to concede the compelling-interest exception, fully
understanding that courts were likely to find a compelling interest in most
civil rights claims. Douglas Laycock University of 512-232-1341 512-471-6988 (fax) |
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