Banner 2 no message

Missouri Family E-News

December 11, 2012

   
Christian
T-Shirt Maker Found Guilty of Gay Bias 

 

A Kentucky T-shirt manufacturer has been found guilty of "sexual orientation" discrimination for refusing to print T-shirts for a community  homosexual festival.

 

Organizers of the Lexington, Kentucky "gay pride" event had filed the complaint against Hands On Originals, a Christian outfitter.  The company declined to print T-shirts promoting the 5th annual "Lexington Pride Festival," citing a conflict with their religious beliefs.

 

The Lexington-Fayette Human Rights Commission has found that Hands On Originals violated the city's anti-discrimination ordinance.  Attorneys for the company plan to appeal the decision to an independent hearing examiner, and if necessary to a court of law.

 

"Hands On Originals declined this order because it did not want to communicate the message of the requested shirt--that people should be 'proud' about engaging in homosexual behavior--nor did they want to promote the ideology of the Pride Festival," says Jim Campbell, staff counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom.  

 

"The Constitution prohibits the government from forcing business owners to promote messages they disagree with," Campbell adds.  "This kind of bullying may be practiced in a dictatorship, but violations of conscience have no place in the United States."

 

Blaine Adamson, the owners of Hands on Originals, says the company treats its customers fairly.  "We don't have a sign on the door that says 'No Gays Allowed.'  We'll work with anybody.  But if there's a specific message that conflicts with my convictions, then I can't promote that."

 

You can watch a video providing more information about this controversy by clicking this link:

Hands On Originals 

 

 

                                         



Student Told to Remove God from Veteran's Day Tribute 

An elementary school student in North Carolina had her Veteran's Day tribute censored because she included a reference to God in her poem.

The first grade student attends West Marion Elementary School in McDowell County.  She composed the poem for a Veteran's Day ceremony last month.

School officials told her that she could not present the poem until she removed a line reading:  "He prayed to God for peace, he prayed to God for strength."  The young girl included those words in reference to one of her grandfathers who served during the Vietnam War.

"Students should not be censored when speaking about their faith or honoring those who valiantly served to protect our freedoms," says Matt Sharp, legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom.

"The censorship of this young student's poem about her grandfather is repugnant to the First Amendment rights of all students," Sharp continues.  "School officials may not suppress or exclude the personal speech of students simply because the speech is religious or contains a religious perspective."

ADF lawyers have sent a letter to school district officials calling for a clear policy safeguarding the religious freedom of students.


  

 
Homosexual Activists Push Statewide Vote
for Special Rights

  
  
Leaders of the homosexual rights movement are mounting a statewide petition drive to adopt a new law to provide special legal rights to homosexuals, bisexuals, and so-called "transgendered" individuals.  Similar laws in other states have proved to result in hostile attacks on the religious beliefs and liberties of Bible-believing Christians.

A group calling itself "Missourians for Equality" is proposing an amendment to Missouri statutes which would add the undefined terms "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the state's anti-discrimination  law. Currently, Missouri law prohibits unfair treatment in employment, housing, and public accommodations based on immutable characteristics such as age, gender, race, color, and national origin. 

The proposed initiative petition would alter anti-discrimination policy to provide for the first time special protection for a class of individuals based on affective and behavioral characteristics, in this case their sexual preferences and sexual conduct.  Under the change, homosexuals would be able to press lawsuits claiming they were not hired or promoted because of their sexual practices.

Proponents of the measure claim that the new law would include a religious exemption.  However, that exemption only applies to churches and ministers.  It would not extend to Christian ministries, Christian institutions, and Christian employers.  In other states, Christian businesses have been the subject of discrimination complaints and lawsuits for declining to participate in homosexual union ceremonies, homosexual activities, and homosexual-themed events.

Homosexual activists in Missouri are pursuing the initiative petition route because they have been unsuccessful in winning passage of their "gay rights" proposal in the Missouri Legislature.  PROMO, the state's leading homosexual advocacy group, has been unable to advance the special rights proposal out of any legislative committee controlled by majority Republican Party members.

In order to place the issue on the statewide ballot,  proponents must secure the signature of five percent of the registered voters in six of the state's eight Congressional districts.  The proposed initiative petition is now being reviewed by the office of Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan for certification for circulation.

Due in large part to their lack of success on the statewide level, homosexual activists have up till now been focused on a local government strategy to implement their agenda.  PROMO has hired field coordinators around the state who have pushed for passage of local special rights ordinances. 

While their efforts to win passage of such an ordinance failed earlier this year in Springfield,  homosexual supporters scored a big victory last month when the St. Louis County Council passed a new "anti-discrimination" ordinance.  The bill passed by a narrow 4-3 margin, and was signed into law by County Executive Charlie Dooley, who was a strong supporter of the effort.

The ordinance requires that any company doing business with St. Louis County must establish corporate policies conferring special employment rights based on "sexual orientation" and "gender identity."  More seriously, it expands the definition of discrimination in all places of public accommodation.  State law defines such places as any facility made available to the general public.

The ordinance contains no religious exemption.  This means that churches who make their properties available for use by groups in the community could be forced to make their facilities available for homosexual union ceremonies and other homosexual "celebrations."  Christian banquet hall owners could also be compelled to rent their facilities for such activities.

The grave problems with the St. Louis County ordinance don't stop there.  The scope of the ordinance also covers the sale of any commodity.  This could compel a Christian business owner to assist in homosexual endeavors.  In other states, Christian business owners have been brought before Human Rights Commissions and state courts for failing to photograph homosexual unions, failing to bake "wedding" cakes for such ceremonies, and failing to print T-shirts for "gay pride" celebrations.

State Senator Jim Lembke of Lemay spoke out against the action by the St. Louis County Council.  "It is clearly unconstitutional.  There is no exception here for religious rights of conscience and religious liberty.  The Missouri Constitution is clear."

Senator Lembke is referring to a provision in the state Constitution that declares that "no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience."  If the statewide homosexual rights referendum were to pass, state courts would have to determine whether Senator Lembke is right.  We ask you to join with us in praying that that day does not happen.


Joe's Signature