Religious liberty, 'gay rights' clash in 2 prominent cases

Wednesday, December 30, 2009
By Michael Foust

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--Religious liberty suffered a setback in the U.S. but won a victory in Canada in December in two closely watched cases involving the legal tug-of-war between religious rights and "gay rights."

Both cases are seen by American conservative groups as indicators of what could be in the nation's future if laws protecting homosexuality continue to pass and if "gay marriage" spreads to all 50 states.

In the U.S. case, a New Mexico judge ruled that a husband- and wife-owned photography company violated state anti-discrimination laws when they refused to take pictures of a lesbian commitment ceremony. The ruling -- which is being appealed -- held up an earlier decision by the state's Human Rights Commission. If the ruling is not overturned the husband and wife will owe the lesbian couple more than $6,600 in attorneys' fees.

In Canada, an Alberta court found that Stephen Boissoin, a Baptist pastor at the time, did not violate the province's so-called hate speech laws when he wrote a 2002 letter to a local newspaper criticizing homosexuality and warning against the "homosexual agenda." The court's ruling reversed a decision by the Alberta Human Rights Commission, which had ordered him to pay $5,000 in fines and write a letter of apology to University of Calgary professor Darren Lund, who filed the original complaint. The money for Lund would have been for the "pain and suffering" he allegedly endured. Boissoin's case has been watched by free-speech advocates worldwide. the rest