SOGI Bills and Religious Freedom – shared marginalization can spur accommodation

SOGI Bills and Religious Freedom – shared marginalization can spur accommodation

by Chelsea Langston In mid-May, 2015, the Nebraska legislature tabled a workplace nondiscrimination bill to add sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) to the list…

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Supreme Court and SSM: What consequences for FBOs?

Supreme Court and SSM: What consequences for FBOs?

(by Stanley Carlson-Thies) At the US Supreme Court’s oral arguments on April 28, 2015, on whether same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, the federal government’s…

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Protecting both LGBT youth and FBOs

Protecting both LGBT youth and FBOs

(Stanley Carlson-Thies) What should Congress do to ensure that homeless, runaway, or trafficked LGBT youth are treated with respect when they turn to federally funded…

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The sky isn't falling: Religious freedom is context-specific

The sky isn’t falling: Religious freedom is context-specific

(by Stanley Carlson-Thies) There’s no doubt that religious organizations and religious people are under great pressure from governments and from societal opponents in a very…

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The Supreme Court, SSM, and religious freedom: coming right up!

The Supreme Court, SSM, and religious freedom: coming right up!

(by Stanley Carlson-Thies) On April 28, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments inObergefell v. Hodges and several linked same-sex marriage cases, asking…

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Adoption agency religious freedom bills

Adoption agency religious freedom bills

(by Chelsea Langston) In March 2015, the Michigan House of Representatives passed bills designed to preserve the freedom of faith-based adoption agencies to follow their…

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Federal policy to recognize SSM in grant programs

Federal policy to recognize SSM in grant programs

(by Stanley Carlson-Thies) The federal government has gradually been requiring in its grant programs that grantees interpret the terms “marriage,” “spouse,” “dependent,” and “family” to…

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More state RFRAs and other approaches

More state RFRAs and other approaches

(by Chelsea Langston) It is odd: remember the media and social-media backlash as Indiana was adopting its Religious Freedom Restoration Act (March-April 2015)–and yet 19…

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Gordon College's accreditation not at risk

Gordon College’s accreditation not at risk

(by Stanley Carlson-Thies) The story last July, 2014, was shocking: evangelical Gordon College north of Boston might lose its accreditation because of its policy requiring…

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RHYA Senate vote: Good start but more work needed to safeguard both providers and at-risk youth

RHYA Senate vote: Good start but more work needed to safeguard both providers and at-risk youth

(by Stanley Carlson-Thies) The Senate on April 22, 2015, voted down an amendment to a sex trafficking bill that would have both reauthorized the Runaway…

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