Anchorage’s LGBT law seen as threat to religious liberty in the public square

CatholicAnchor.org
The Anchorage Assembly passed an ordinance last month establishing “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as classifications of prohibited discrimination in the Anchorage civil code. The move places sexual orientation and gender identity on the same legal level as race and religion.

Supporters of the ordinance claim it will ensure that those who identify as gay, bisexual or transgender will be protected from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations.

Religious liberty advocates, however, worry the new ordinance compels local churches, faith-based groups and business owners to violate deeply held beliefs by forcing them to hire employees who are openly living a homosexual and/or transgender lifestyle, while also forcing service companies and rental organizations to promote, serve and facilitate causes and events which violate their moral beliefs, especially in the area of sexuality.

Across the nation, businesses, schools and charitable organizations have been fined or driven out of business after declining to participate in homosexual and transgender events or activities. In these cases it was not a matter of refusing to sell or provide services to homosexual individuals. Rather the targeted groups declined to lend their services to facilitate activities — such as same-sex weddings — which run contrary to deeply held moral or religious beliefs.

The Catholic Church, for example, opposes unjust discrimination against homosexuals, but affirms that sexual activity is designed to take place within the context of marriage between one man and one woman.

The major controversy of the new Anchorage law centers around the fact that there are no religious exemptions for individuals unaffiliated with a recognized religious group. Business owners and nonprofit groups, for instance, have no religious exemption protections when it comes to facilitating events and messages that run contrary to their deeply held beliefs about human sexuality.

Even the approved exemptions for religious groups are limited. For religious institutions, there is a “ministerial exemption” but it only applies to areas of religious teaching, governance or worship. Employees such as non-religious teachers, social workers, administrators, janitors and others could not be required to conduct themselves according to core behavioral rules of the religious institution. Many churches, religious schools and other institutions, however, often consider the entire community, including employees, as part and parcel of their common mission. This has opponents of the new Anchorage law seeking to repeal the ordinance through a popular vote.

Four previous attempts in the Assembly and once at the ballot failed to pass a sexual orientation ordinance. In 2012, 58 percent of Anchorage voters rejected a ballot initiative to establish legal status based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

But last month’s 9-2 vote in the Anchorage Assembly was a watershed moment and one supported by Mayor Ethan Burkowitz.

Opponents of the ordinance are now working to introduce legislation to overturn the law.

The ordinance was co-authored by Assembly members Bill Evans and Patrick Flynn. Assembly members Amy Demboski and Bill Starr, both of Chugiak-Eagle River, were the only members to vote against it.

In passing the measure, the Assembly also rejected Demboski’s amendment to allow business operators to segregate restrooms or locker rooms based on a person’s male or female anatomy. Instead the ordinance states that business operators can provide gender-segregated locker rooms, restrooms or dressing rooms, as long as people can use the facilities consistent with the gender that they identify with, regardless of their biological sex.