Archive for the ‘human rights’ Category
Gay Rights: Catholic Fail, Prom Win
March 17th, 2010 | Author: Tom
I’m a huge believer in human rights, and I am proud to say that I live in a country whose government tries to stop discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, religion, or sexuality.
Until today. In court, the Catholic adoption society Catholic Care won the right to ignore the Sexual Orientation Regulations and see homosexual couples as unfit parents. This was opposed by the Charities Commission, and thanks to the ruling by Mr Justice Briggs, they will have a legal bill of about £100,000 to stump up.
Let’s take a minute to consider this: a group is allowed to flout the rules because it goes against their religion. This sets a hugely dangerous precedence. If Catholic Care are allowed to do this, where will it stop? In the Bible, homosexuality is punishable by death, so shall we let Catholics off murder charges if they kill a gay man? Obviously, this is slightly unlikely, but the point remains. Why should a religious group be able to pick and choose the laws it adheres to?
In better news, the case of Constance McMillen has a very happy ending. Constance McMillen is a lesbian who wanted to take her girlfriend to her high school prom at the Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Mississippi. Being the deep south of the USA, the school board were totally against it. First they tried to ban Constance, then when the ACLU got involved, they just banned the prom, no doubt trying to turn Constance into a social pariah.
Well, a couple of humanists have stepped up and funded the prom! How about that for a smack in the face of bigotry?
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