Punishment
On Monday June 18, The Town council of Jackson passed on its first reading a city Ordinance criminalizing discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The ordinance provides for fines up to $750 per day for violations. No doubt, the stated intention of this ordinance is to create a more tolerant society and promote harmony in the community. Scratch a little deeper and its unintended consequences are more than troubling.
J. Matthew Sharp, Senior Counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) wrote an extensive review of the ordinance and raised legal and constitutional problems with it. ADF is the same organization that represented Jack Phillips before the Supreme Court. As you may remember, the Supreme Court ruled in Jack’s favor earlier this month in a 7-2 ruling that the state of Colorado violated his rights by discriminating against him for practicing his free speech and religious rights.
So what were the problems that the ADF raised with this ordinance? First, it would allow men to access showers, locker rooms and restrooms designated for women. Secondly, it strips churches and religious organizations of their associational and free exercise rights. And last, it violates the freedom of religious individuals and business owners to operate consistent with their faith.
In what ways? The ordinance provides churches with the right to hire clergy, religious instructors or officers consistent with their beliefs, but it does not extend those protections to other positions such as secretary, maintenance, or custodial.
More troubling, it has no protections for para-church organizations such as homeless shelters, day cares, camps, pregnancy crisis centers, etc.
Additionally, this ordinance creates a protected class of citizens from a perceived condition, and it unduly burdens business.
It seeks to remedy a problem that does not exist. It muddies the waters for schools and other public entities as to who can use what bathroom or which locker room. And lastly, it divides people and mandates hiring or firing based on “sexual identity” rather than “skill or productivity.”
Market forces should determine hiring and firing, not governmental mandates. It was clear from the meeting that this ordinance is more about punishing dissent than promoting harmony.
Because of grace,
Tim
