c. 2007 Religion News Service
Judge halts Oregon civil-unions law
PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) A federal judge has blocked Oregon’s domestic partnership law for gays and lesbians from taking effect Tuesday (Jan. 1), saying opponents should have a chance to make their case for a statewide election on civil unions.
The surprise ruling came just days before gay couples would be eligible for most of the same legal benefits of marriage. Couples across Oregon had planned to show up at county offices to register as partners.
But U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman ruled that they will have to wait.
Mosman set a Feb. 1 hearing to hear a lawsuit by gay-rights opponents challenging the state’s methods for verifying voter signatures. Opponents gathered signatures last summer to try to overturn civil unions on the November 2008 ballot but were rejected by state officials.
Elections officials determined that they fell 96 signatures short of the 55,179 needed for a referendum on a law passed by the Legislature.
Mosman said attorneys for opponents showed that the rights of voters may have been violated if their signatures were wrongly rejected.
The ruling doesn’t affect a companion state law that will take effect next week to ban discrimination against gays in work, housing and public places.
Supporters of the new law were stunned by the judge’s decision.
“It’s unfortunate that families are once again bearing the brunt of this ongoing struggle,” said Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon. “This is a long-term movement for equality in Oregon. … In this case, I still believe we will prevail.”
_ Suzanne Pardington
Secular Coalition of America Joins Civil Rights Group
WASHINGTON (RNS) The Secular Coalition for America has been accepted as a new member of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the coalition announced.
“This decision says as much about the LCCR and its willingness to acknowledge and include nontheists as it does about the Secular Coalition and its recognition of our theistic allies who support our rights,” said Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Washington-based coalition.
Her group is one of eight that joined the conference in 2007, and aims to work with it on issues of equal justice, mutual respect and equal opportunity.
Brown said the move marks the first time the civil rights organization has included a nontheist advocacy group whose members include atheists, humanists or others who do not believe in God.
Several religious groups have already been aligned with the Washington-based conference, including the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Alumnus sues to put Bible verse on brick
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (RNS) James Pursley says he is a “proud alumnus of Penn State University” and a “devout Christian” who wants to memorialize pride in his alma mater by buying a brick on the Alumni Walk.
Pursley, of Chicago, wants his name, year of graduation and “Joshua 24:15” (not the full verse) inscribed on the brick he has tried since April to buy for $250.
Pursley says the university rejected the inscription as offensive and offered a refund or the opportunity to change the message.
The 2001 graduate in management services and information systems rejected the offers and filed a civil rights suit in U.S. Middle District Court, calling the university’s action “a blatant case of content viewpoint discrimination against religious speech in a public forum.”
Pursley, a life member of the alumni association, is suing the university and three officials of the alumni association. A Penn State representative could not be reached for comment on Monday (Dec. 31).
Pursley said he felt there was nothing “offensive” or “inappropriate” about his desired message, and in his lawsuit quoted several inscriptions that have been allowed on the walk, including: “May God Bless/Penn State”; “Merry Christmas”; and “For The Glory/& The Girlies”.
The alumni association tells those who want to buy bricks on the walk that it has the right to deny any application. Purchasers are told inscriptions may not contain commercial messages or company names.
“Discriminatory or inappropriate” references to “age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or veteran status” are also barred.
Pursley states in the lawsuit he was told in August or early September his inscription was rejected because policy prevented religious messages.
_ John Beauge
Quote of the Day: Bishop Thomas W. Weeks III of Duluth, Ga.
(RNS) “I would like for us to be friends in the future. I don’t think there is an absolute possibility that we will never reconcile.”
_ Bishop Thomas W. Weeks III, senior pastor of Global Destiny Church in Duluth, Ga., speaking to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about a pending divorce from his wife, evangelist Juanita Bynum. He has been charged with assaulting his wife, but told the newspaper that he is the one who has been physically abused.
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