RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

CALIFORNIA BEGINS PURGE OF CHRISTIAN FOSTER PARENTS WHO WON’T FORCE WOKE AGENDA ON KIDS. Christian foster parents with traditional, biblical beliefs on gender and sexuality are being systematically excluded from California’s foster care system due to the enforcement of SB 407, a new mandate that foster parents, irrespective of whether they have an LGBTQ-identified child in their care, must affirm a child’s chosen gender identity or sexual orientation. Read more here.

 

VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICT RESPECTS TEACHERS’ RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. To settle a lawsuit brought by Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing three Virginia teachers, the Harrisonburg, Pa., City School Board agreed to respect the teachers’ constitutionally protected right to not use pronouns inconsistent with students’ biological sex. Read more here.

 

VIRGINIA JUDGE GREENLIGHTS CASE ON SCHOOL’S TRANSGENDER BATHROOM, COMPELLED PRONOUN POLICY. A state judge rejected a Virginia school system’s bid to stop a lawsuit alleging that its transgender policies prohibiting “deadnaming” and “misgendering” students discriminate against Christian students. Read more here.

 

MORE CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED BY ‘ILLIBERAL’ BUFFER ZONES LAWS AROUND UK. Stephen Green, a pro-life Christian who lost his appeal after being found guilty of breaching an abortion buffer zone in Ealing, North London, where he reportedly stood outside the Marie Stopes facility with a Bible verse written on a sign, says he is the victim of “a massive attack on freedom of religion and freedom of expression.” Read more here.

 

UNITED AIRLINES FIRES CATHOLIC FLIGHT ATTENDANT WHO CRITICIZED LGBT IDEOLOGY IN PRIVATE CONVERSATION. Ruben Sanchez is attempting to raise money for a legal battle against United Airlines after he says the company dismissed him for affirming the Catholic Church’s teaching on sexuality with a fellow worker. Read more here.

 

OKLAHOMA SUPERINTENDENT LAUNCHES RELIGIOUS LIBERTY INITIATIVE. Oklahoma state superintendent Ryan Walters announced a new agency aimed at promoting religious liberty and patriotism, which will offer support to teachers and students. Read more here.

 

COLORADO COUNSELOR ASKS U.S. SUPREME COURT TO HEAR HER FREE SPEECH CASE. A licensed professional counselor in Colorado is being prevented by state law from free speech conversation with clients under age 18 that “attempts or purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.” Read more here.

 

A WIN FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN CALIFORNIA. Religious freedom’s string of courtroom victories has reached the unlikeliest of places, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that a discriminatory California law barring religious schools from participating in a special-education program violates the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. Read more here.

 

MANY STATES ‘BURDEN’ RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OF FAITH-BASED NONPROFITS, REPORT FINDS. The Napa Legal Institute’s report found that some states, including Massachusetts, Michigan and Washington, ranked low for religious freedom, while other states such as Alabama and Indiana had “robust protections” for faith-based nonprofits. Read more here.

 

COLORADO MOVES TO REPEAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PROTECTION IN ‘UNIVERSAL’ PRESCHOOL PROGRAM. Colorado state officials repealed a religious freedom protection in the state’s Universal Preschool program amid an ongoing legal battle over whether two Catholic preschools can participate in the program. Read more here.

 

‘UNUSUAL U. S. SUPREME COURT TERM LACKS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY DISPUTE, COURT WATCHERS NOTE. The U.S. Supreme Court in recent years has been open to deciding weighty religious liberty challenges, such as a Christian baker’s right to refuse to make same-sex wedding cakes and a high school football coach’s right to pray on the 50-yard line, but in the current term, the justices have yet to take up any religious liberty case for oral arguments. Read more here.

 

TRANSGENDER CANCEL CULTURE? CHRISTIAN MOM SAYS SHE WAS BLOCKED FROM SUBSTITUTE TEACHING BECAUSE OF HER FAITH. Lindsay Rich, a conservative Christian mother of five who narrowly lost a contentious school board election in Virginia that involved transgender issues, was later approved as a substitute teacher, but the school board denied her employment. Read more here.

 

MASSACHUSETTS STUDENT APPEALS FREE SPEECH T-SHIRT CASE TO U.S. SUPREME COURT. Liam Morrison, a Middleboro, Massachusetts student who unsuccessfully sued the town for allegedly violating his First Amendment right to free speech, is appealing his “two genders” T-shirt case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Read more here.

 

COLORADO TO PAY WEB DESIGNER’S LEGAL FEES AFTER LOSING SAME-SEX WEDDING CASE. The state of Colorado has agreed to pay legal fees to a web designer who won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that found the right to free speech allows some businesses to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings. Read more here.

 

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM TRIUMPHS AS ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM SECURES 9TH CIRCUIT WIN ON TITLE IX EXEMPTIONS. Alliance Defending Freedom has achieved a major First Amendment victory after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld the constitutionality of Title IX exemptions for religious institutions. The ruling affirms that religious educational institutions are not required to comply with certain anti-discrimination mandates if doing so would conflict with their core religious beliefs. Read more here.

 

U.S. SUPREME COURT ASKED TO WEIGH RELIGIOUS LIBERTY CASES, INCLUDING LGBT CONTENT OPT-OUTS IN SCHOOLS. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a group that represents a diverse array of plaintiffs facing challenges to their religious beliefs, has petitioned the Supreme Court to hear several cases with far-reaching consequences including Mahmoud v. Taylor. Read more here.

 

RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS FOR CHRISTIAN COLLEGES OPPOSED TO LGBT IDEOLOGY UPHELD BY APPEALS COURT. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against an effort to strip Christian colleges of federal funds because of their biblical views on LGBT issues. Read more here.

 

ENOCH BURKE JAILED FOR THIRD TIME OVER REFUSAL TO STAY AWAY FROM WILSON’S HOSPITAL SCHOOL. Evangelical Christian teacher Enoch Burke has been jailed for the third time over his refusal to comply with a court order and stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath, where he was originally charged with misgendering a student. Read more here.

 

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS TITLE IX EXEMPTION FOR RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS. A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling in favor of granting a Title IX exemption for religious post-secondary institutions that receive federal funding, after students who identify as LGBTQ+ had previously filed suit against the U.S. Department of Education. Read more here.

 

SCHOOL DISTRICT FORCING TEACHER TO USE PREFERRED PRONUONS IS ‘COMPELLED SPEECH,’ NOT ‘NEUTRAL’ POLICY: JUDGE. A federal judge has ruled that an Ohio school district may have violated teacher Vivian Geraghty’s First Amendment rights by forcing her to resign for refusing to use trans-identified students’ preferred names and pronouns due to her religious convictions. Read more here.

 

‘YOU WILL RESIGN, OR WE’LL MAKE THIS UGLY’: IDAHO NATIONAL GUARDSMAN PUNISHED FOR BIBLICAL VALUES. A Christian infantry officer is now being punished by the Idaho Army National Guard for expressing his religious beliefs and using his First Amendment right to speak out against the LGBTQ+ ideology that he believes is harming children. Read more here.

 

CHRISTIAN INFANTRY OFFICER STRIPPED OF POSITION, ACCUSED OF EXPRESSING ‘HATRED’ FOR LGBT PEOPLE. An infantry officer who expressed Christian views on human sexuality and other LGBT-related issues faced pressure to resign from the Idaho National Guard and was stripped of his commanding position following a complaint from a subordinate who identifies as homosexual. Read more here.

 

COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF CHRISTIAN TEACHER FORCED TO USE TRANS PRONOUNS. A federal court has ruled that an Ohio school district violated the First Amendment rights of Christian teacher Vivian Geraghty, an English teacher who resigned in 2022 after being told to use a student’s “preferred pronouns.” Read more here.

 

PRO-LIFE ACTIVIST AWARDED £13K AFTER ARRESTS FOR ‘SILENT PRAYER’ OUTSIDE ABORTION CLINIC. Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, the director of the pro-life March for Life UK group, successfully forced the payout from the West Midlands Police after she accused the force of violating her human rights, wrongful arrest and assault and battery over an intrusive search during one of her arrests. Read more here.

 

DEMOCRAT STATES ARE BLOCKING CHRISTIANS FROM ADOPTING CHILDREN. Increasingly, Christians like the Vermont couple Bryan and Rebecca Gantt are being prevented from adopting children because of their religious beliefs, due to new policies promoting sexual orientation and gender ideology. Read more here.

 

CHRISTIAN CHARITY’S LAWSUIT OVER HIRING PRACTICES CAN PROCEED: APPEALS COURT. Union Gospel Mission of Yakima, Washington can continue its legal battle to maintain its policy of only hiring individuals who share its beliefs, including opposition to same-sex marriage, an appeals court panel has ruled. Read more here.

 

MAN SUES LIBERTY UNIVERSITY FOR FIRING HIM AFTER HE SAID HE’S ‘TRANSITIONING’ TO A WOMAN. Ellenor Zinski, who was born a male but identifies as a female, worked at Liberty University in its IT department and was fired by the Christian university for “transitioning” his identity to female and now is suing the school in an attack on its religious liberty. Read more here.

 

CHILDREN’S NATIONAL HOSPITAL TRIED TO END THIS CHRISTIAN THERAPIST’S CAREER. NOW HE’S SUING. Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., routinely discriminates against Christians who hold orthodox beliefs about sexuality and gender, alleges a class action lawsuit filed by licensed therapist Tyrone Obaseki, who has encountered hostility to his Christian faith. Read more here.

 

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY VICTORY: VA. COURT DEALS BLOW TO SCHOOL DISTRICT’S ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL’ PRONOUN AND BATHROOM POLICIES. A Virginia court ruled that students can challenge unconstitutional “transgender” pronoun and bathroom policies, overturning the Fairfax County Public School District’s requirement that all students must refer to “students who identify as gender-expansive or transgender by their chosen name and pronoun, regardless of the name and gender recorded in the student’s permanent pupil record.” Read more here.

 

‘A MARKED MAN’: FIRED CHRISTIAN EDUCATOR WARNS ‘EVERY TEACHER IS AT RISK’ AFTER COURT LOSS. Joshua Sutcliffe, a Christian and former math teacher at The Cherwell School in Oxford who was fired for “misgendering” a trans student in 2017, said every teacher is at risk for sharing personal beliefs in the classroom. Read more here.

 

DIVERSE GROUPS RALLY TO SUPPORT INDIANA MUSIC TEACHER FORCED OUT OF JOB FOR HIS RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. Seventeen states, multiple medical experts, children’s advocates, and a feminist group have joined together in support of former Indiana high school music teacher John Kluge whose employment was terminated because of his sincerely held religious beliefs on gender identity. Read more here.

 

CHRISTIAN PHOTOGRAPHER’S LAWSUIT AGAINST LAW FORCING HER TO WORK SAME-SEX WEDDINGS REVIVED. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that Christian photographer Emilee Carpenter’s lawsuit over New York’s public accommodations law forcing her to serve same-sex wedding ceremonies can continue. Read more here.

 

COURT RULES FOR PHOTOGRAPHER CHALLENGING NY LAWS COMPELLING SPEECH. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has ruled that the case of a New York photographer and blogger may proceed and that a lower court should evaluate whether to issue an injunction to prevent New York from forcing her to create messages inconsistent with her faith. Read more here.

 

OREGON STREET PREACHERS LOSE FREE SPEECH LAWSUIT AGAINST GRANTS PASS. A jury delivered a decision in less than an hour against the group Abolish Abortion Oregon, resolving a years-long lawsuit over whether or not Grants Pass Police targeted the group for its beliefs. Read more here.

 

OREGON BLOCKS MOM FROM ADOPTING CHILDREN BECAUSE OF HER CHRISTIAN FAITH. Jessica Bates is challenging an Oregon Department of Human Services rule that categorically excludes her from adopting any child—no matter their age or beliefs—because she would not violate her religious beliefs to promote radical gender ideology. Read more here.

 

HAWAII SCHOOLS ORDERED TO ALLOW GOOD NEWS CLUBS ACCESS TO CAMPUS. A federal court has ordered the Hawaii Department of Education and six individual elementary schools to allow Child Evangelism Fellowship’s after-school Bible clubs to operate on public school campuses just like any other club, overturning the state’s prohibition of the clubs in four local school districts. Read more here.

 

TEXAS SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH CHRISTIAN JUDGE WHO WILL NOT OFFICIATE SAME-SEX WEDDINGS. The Supreme Court of Texas ruled in favor of Dianne Hensley, a justice of the peace in Waco reprimanded for not performing same-sex weddings, reinstating her lawsuit against the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Read more here.

 

COLORADO SUPREME COURT BEGINS HEARING JACK PHILLIPS’ CASE FOR REFUSING TO BAKE ‘GENDER TRANSITION’ CAKE. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Jack Phillips, a Colorado cake shop owner, are asking the state’s high court to protect him from being forced to prepare a cake celebrating transgenderism, a view that violates his Christian beliefs. Read more here.

 

ARCHBISHOP DECRIES EROSION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN AUSTRALIA, ALONG WITH GROWTH OF ABORTION AND EUTHANASIA. Archbishop Anthony Fisher, of Sydney, is speaking out against the erosion of religious freedom in Australia, noting that laws in favor of abortion and euthanasia are continuing to threaten religious liberty. Read more here.

 

VERMONT REVOKES COUPLE’S FOSTER CARE LICENSE BECAUSE OF THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of two Vermont families after the state revoked their foster care licenses because of their religious beliefs. Read more here.

 

LAWSUIT: LOS ANGELES CO. FIRE DEPT. ‘RETALIATED’ AGAINST EMPLOYEE WHO REFUSED TO RAISE PRIDE FLAG. Veteran county employee Captain Jeffrey Little alleges that the fire department violated his religious freedom when it ordered him to raise the so-called “Progress Pride” flag after he requested a religious exemption. Read more here.

 

LA CHRISTIAN LIFEGUARD SUSPENDED FOR REFUSING TO FLY A PRIDE FLAG. Los Angeles lifeguard Jeffrey Little has been suspended for refusing to choose between his faith and flying a pride flag at Will Rogers Beach. Read more here.

 

STUDY: SPAIN SPENDS THE LEAST ON FAMILY POLICY. A study found that Spain fared poorly on indirect aid such as education spending that “contributes to the well-being and future of children, as well as to the ability of parents to reconcile work and parenting.” Read more here.

 

‘PRO-PEDOPHILE’ ACTIVIST GROUP CELEBRATES AS GERMANY DECRIMINALIZES CHILD PORN POSSESSION. Germany’s Parliament removed a section of the Criminal Code that made the possession of child sexual abuse materials a felony crime, and the possession of child pornography will be reduced to a misdemeanor. Read more here.

 

MORE STATES MOVE TO MAKE PORN SITES VERIFY USERS’ AGES. One-third of states—Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Virginia—have enacted legislation to protect children from accessing pornography websites, and the state legislatures of Arizona and Alaska are in the process of passing similar legislation. Read more here.

 

NEW YORK COURT FORCES CHRISTIAN GROUPS TO FUND ABORTIONS. New York’s highest court upheld legislation requiring insurance companies to cover abortions, and the Catholic Diocese of Albany announced it will appeal the ruling which goes against religious freedom. Read more here.

 

MAJOR PHARMACY CHAIN SETTLES WITH CHRISTIAN NURSE OVER CONTRACEPTIVES CASE. CVS Health Corporation settled with Nurse Practitioner Robyn Strader who sued the company after it stopped providing religious accommodations regarding “pregnancy prevention services.” Read more here.

 

FAMILIES CHALLENGE CALIFORNIA BAN ON PUBLIC FUNDING FOR RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS. Families in California are challenging a state ban which prevents public school funding from going toward sectarian schools, arguing that it discriminates against religious families. Read more here.

 

WIN FOR CHURCH AUTONOMY IN MEXICO: COURT PROTECTS CATHOLIC BAPTISMAL RECORDS FROM GENDER IDEOLOGY. The Twenty-second Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Mexico has upheld the constitutional autonomy rights of the Querétaro Catholic Diocese in Mexico to reject a demand from the Mexican National Institute for Data Protection to alter church records according to a transgender-identifying individual’s self-identification. Read more here.

 

CATHOLIC SCHOOL CAN LEGALLY FIRE TEACHER IN SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, APPEALS COURT RULES. Charlotte Catholic High School, North Carolina, was within its legal rights to dismiss a substitute teacher because he was in a same-sex marriage, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. Read more here.

 

PROSECUTOR DISMISSES CASE AGAINST FRENCH PRIEST WHO SAID HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONS ARE A SIN. French priest Matthieu Raffray disclosed that the Paris prosecutor’s office has dismissed a case initiated against him for stating that homosexual relations are a sin and for calling homosexuality a “weakness.” Read more here.

 

SUPREME COURT’S HISTORIC DECISION IN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CASE. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of a postal worker requesting religious accommodation to not deliver packages on Sundays, which he observes as the Sabbath. Read more here.

 

BIBLICAL BELIEFS ON TRIAL: PÄIVI RÄSÄNEN ‘HATE SPEECH’ CASE APPEALED TO SUPREME COURT. Former Finnish Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen, who has been tried for her biblical beliefs and unanimously acquitted by two courts, has had her free speech case appealed to the country’s Supreme Court, where she faces a charge that could punish her with tens of thousands in fines. Read more here.

 

CATHOLIC PRIEST IN SWITZERLAND FACES ‘HATE CRIME’ TRIAL OVER ARTICLE CRITICIZING HOMOSEXUAL CLERGY. Fr. Manfred Hauke, who teaches theology at the University of Lugano, Switzerland, is accused of violating a ban against “discrimination” and “inciting hatred” against homosexuals for publishing an article as the publisher of the magazine Theologisches. Read more here.

 

METALWORKER FIRED FOR OPPOSING COMPANY’S PRIDE SYMBOL. Daniel Snyder was fired from his job as a metalworker because he objected to his employer’s use of a rainbow to promote pride month, and he is suing his former employer, Arconic, for religious discrimination. Read more here.

 

OVER 100 ADVOCATES URGE SENATE TO DESIGNATE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM A ‘FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT.’ ADF International was among 113 religious freedom advocates and organizations under the International Religious Freedom Roundtable that signed onto a letter sent to U.S. Senate leaders urging them to pass the bipartisan Senate Resolution 569 “quickly.” Read more here.

 

CHRISTIAN STUDENT PUNISHED FOR WEARING ‘HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN’ T-SHIRT WINS SETTLEMENT FROM SCHOOL. A Christian student in Tennessee who was compelled to change out of a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Homosexuality is a Sin” or face leaving the school grounds in 2020 has won a settlement from the school district. Read more here.

 

FIRED BIOLOGY PROFESSOR FIGHTS BACK AND WINS. Dr. Johnson Varkey and his attorneys at First Liberty Institute announced he has won his adjunct professorial job back at St. Philip’s College in San Antonio, Texas after being fired in 2023 “for teaching standard principles about human biology and reproduction.” Read more here.

 

CANADIAN BILL WOULD REMOVE RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION FROM ‘HATE SPEECH’ LAWS, CRITICS WARN. The proposed Bill C-367, currently under review in Canada’s House of Commons, would repeal “religious exemption” in Section 319 of the Canadian Criminal Code, which critics say could open up Christians and other religious groups to “hate speech” charges over any comments or criticisms of the LGBT movement. Read more here.

 

CONSERVATIVE LEADERS URGE LAWMAKERS TO BACK AMENDMENT PROTECTING TRADITIONAL VIEWS ON MARRIAGE. Conservative leaders urged House Republicans to protect religious freedom by prioritizing passage of the so-called Roy Marriage Amendment, named after Cong. Chip Roy, R-Texas. Read more here.

 

GEORGIA BILL AIMS TO PROTECT RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. OPPONENTS SAY IT’S A LICENSE TO DISCRIMINATE. Georgia lawmakers are revisiting a nearly decade-old fight over whether the state needs to protect religious rights from being trampled by state and local governments. Read more here.

 

FIRE CHAPLAIN SAYS HE WAS FIRED FOR SHARING RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. Dr. Andrew Fox, an ordained minister in the Austin, Texas fire department, was terminated for expressing the view that males should not compete on female sports teams. Read more here.

 

TENNESSEE GOVERNOR SIGNS LAW ALLOWING PUBLIC OFFICIALS TO DECLINE TO PERFORM MARRIAGES THEY DISAGREE WITH. Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill allowing public officials to decline to perform marriages based on their “conscience or religious beliefs.” Read more here.

 

U.S. SUPREME COURT ISSUES DECISION IN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CASE. The Court unanimously ruled in favor of a postal worker requesting religious accommodation to not deliver packages on Sundays, which he observes as the Sabbath. The Court rejected a previous 1977 standard that mandated employers must “reasonably accommodate” religious practices unless it poses an “undue hardship.” Read more here.

 

UTAH SENATE PRESIDENT APPLAUDS PASSAGE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PROTECTIONS. Utah could become the latest state to enshrine religious liberty protections in code, after the state Senate voted unanimously to advance a version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Read more here.

 

CHRISTIAN BAKERS MELISSA & AARON KLEIN APPEAL TO OREGON COURT AGAIN. The former owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa have once again made their case before the Oregon Court of Appeals to allow them to bake cakes without endorsing messages that violate their beliefs, less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated an earlier decision by the state court that had effectively forced them out of business. Read more here.

 

IOWA DOCTORS COULD REFUSE PATIENTS OVER RELIGIOUS BELIEFS UNDER NEW BILL Senate Study Bill 3006 would make health care workers immune from liability for damages if they do not wish to undertake or pay for treatments that would go against their conscience. Read more here.

 

INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM SUMMIT UNITES DIVERSE VOICES AGAINST GLOBAL PERSECUTION. Religious freedom is under threat across cultures, nations, religions and political systems globally, and unexpected cases are emerging even in established democracies like Japan and Finland. Read more here.

 

CHRISTIAN BAKER CONTINUES LEGAL FIGHT OVER LESBIAN WEDDING CAKE. Cathy Miller, owner of the Bakersfield-based bakery Cathy’s Creations, does business as Tastries, has been battling litigation after she refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple in 2017. Read more here.

 

CHURCH PRESCHOOL WON’T BE BARRED FROM GOV’T FOOD PROGRAM. A California church and its preschool program will be included in a federal program that helps feed the poor after initially being barred because of the church’s theologically conservative stance on LGBT issues. Read more here.

 

CRIMINAL PROSECUTION DRAGS ON FOR BRITISH ARMY VET WHO SILENTLY PRAYED NEAR UK ABORTION CLINIC. Army veteran Adam Smith-Connor was fined by English authorities for silently praying on a street for a son he lost to abortion last November, and Alliance Defending Freedom UK’s attempts to gain legal justice for him have been delayed for several months. Read more here.

 

RELIGIOUS AMERICANS’ LIVES POSSIBLY AT RISK IN 2024, NEW REPORT BY U.S. BISHOPS SAYS. The bishops said the coming year holds some significant threats to the rights of religious Americans that will likely be further exacerbated by the election year, most especially because of the emphasis on abortion, gender ideology and immigration. Read more here.

 

MOM FIGHTS OREGON AFTER STATE BANS HER FROM ADOPTING BECAUSE SHE’S CHRISTIAN. Jessica Bates, a single Christian mom attempted to apply with the state to adopt children in 2022, but Oregon officials denied her application because her Christian beliefs would not allow her to “respect, accept, and support … the sexual orientation, gender identity, [and] gender expression” of the children in her care as the department’s adoption regulations require. Read more here.

 

‘DEEPLY DISTURBING’: GOP SENATORS SLAM BIDEN ADMIN FOR USING SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER ON ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISM.’ “Since January 2021, the Biden administration has consistently attempted to weaponize the federal government against its political opponents,” Sen. Katie Britt (Rep-Ala.) said, adding it “would turn to the SPLC to do so is disturbing, but unfortunately not surprising, given their shared animosity towards religious freedom and parental rights.” Read more here.

 

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION DROPS PROTECTIONS FOR RELIGIOUS HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS. The Biden administration announced a new rule change Tuesday that experts are saying threatens the rights of religious doctors and health care providers to refuse to perform abortions and transgender surgeries. Read more here.

 

AUSTRALIAN STATE GOVERNMENT BANS PRAYERS TALKING ABOUT AN LGBTQ PERSON’S ‘NEED TO REPENT.’ The Australian state of Victoria has trodden on the sacred space of one’s own inner prayers, all in the name of protecting people who identify as LGBTQ, by banning the “carrying out a religious practice, including but not limited to, a prayer-based practice, a deliverance practice or an exorcism.” Read more here.

 

CHRISTIAN PARENTS ASK SUPREME COURT TO HELP AFTER GENDER-CONFUSED TEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM THEM. Two Indiana parents are seeking the intervention of the United States Supreme Court after the state’s Department of Child Services took their gender-confused child away from them due to their Biblical beliefs about sex and gender. Read more here.

 

IOWA REPUBLICANS LOOK TO BROADEN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. Iowa’s Republican leaders say they are not planning to expand on the list of laws passed last year addressing conservative social issues and regulating gender and sexuality issues in schools, but lawmakers may revive a push for religious liberty protections — causing concerns among LGBTQ rights groups. Read more here.

 

GEORGIA POLICE OFFICER RESIGNS AFTER BEING PUT ON LEAVE FOR FACEBOOK POST ON TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE. Port Wentworth, Georgia police officer Jacob Kersey has resigned after he was told by superiors that he could not share his religious views on marriage in a private social media post. Read more here.

 

MICHIGAN CITY TO PAY SETTLEMENT WITH A FARMER AFTER BEING EXCLUDED FROM FARMER’S MARKET FOR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. The City of East Lansing the City of East Lansing violated Steve Tennes’s religious beliefs and his free exercise rights when they kicked him out of a farmer’s market because of what he believes about marriage. Read more here.

 

BIDEN LGBT FOSTER CARE RULE SPARKS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY CRITICISM. Public comment recently closed on a new Department of Health and Human Services rule requiring child welfare providers to undergo “affirmation” training for youths who identify as homosexual or transgender, which conservatives and religious liberty advocates say could threaten faith-based or religiously affiliated foster care and adoption organizations. Read more here.

 

MOM FIGHTS IN COURT AFTER STATE DENIES ADOPTION DUE TO HER CHRISTIAN BELIEFS. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys are representing Oregon mom Jessica Bates, who was not allowed to adopt children because she refused to speak or act against her belief that boys and girls are biologically different and should cherish that difference, not reject it. Read more here.

 

HOW A FEDERAL AGENCY IS ATTEMPTING TO UNDERMINE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN THE WORKPLACE. It its newly proposed guidance, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission specifically refers to “abortion” as a “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition,” but it may also consider pro-life speech and other discussions about an individual’s decision to choose between life or abortion to be workplace harassment. Read more here.

 

VERMONT CHRISTIAN SCHOOL SUES STATE AFTER BEING PUNISHED FOR BIBLICAL VIEWS ON SEXUALITY, GENDER. Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit religious rights law firm, is representing Mid Vermont Christian School and two families after Vermont’s Agency of Education and Vermont Principals’ Association allegedly discriminated against the school because it did not adopt the state’s view on sexuality and gender. Read more here.

 

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IS HAVING A ‘PR CRISIS.’ EXPERTS SAY. WHAT CAN BE DONE? Thirty years since the passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, religious liberty rights remain essential, but they’re increasingly devalued and misunderstood, according to Sen. James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma. Read more here.

 

FINNISH PARLIAMENTARIAN FOUND NOT GUILTY OF ‘HATE SPEECH’ FOR BIBLE TWEET, OTHER EXPRESSION. In a victory for free speech, the Helsinki Court of Appeal has dismissed all charges against Finnish Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola, who were both tried for “hate speech” in August after publicly expressing their Christian beliefs. Read more here.

 

VIRGINIA WON’T FORCE CHRISTIAN PHOTOGRAPHER TO PROVIDE SERVICES FOR SAME-SEX WEDDINGS: SETTLEMENT. Bob Updegrove filed a lawsuit against Virginia over a law that expanded state anti-discrimination rules to include sexual orientation and gender identity, and the state attorney general and Virginia Office of Civil Rights will recognize his religious liberty for refusing to provide services for same-sex weddings. Read more here.

 

UK: ‘THOUGHT POLICE STILL AT IT’: WOMAN FINED FOR PRAYING IN HER HEAD. British police have again been accused of acting like “thought police” after they took action against Isabel Vaughan-Spruce for praying “in her head” near an abortion clinic, despite recent assurances from Britain’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman that silent prayer near abortion providers is not a crime. Read more here.

 

FEDERAL COURT: COLORADO CHRISTIAN SCHOOL CAN GET STATE FUNDS, STILL HIRE BELIEVERS. Darren Patterson Christian Academy will be permitted to participate in Colorado’s universal preschool program while maintaining its religious beliefs even though the school is engaged in a legal battle with the state. Read more here.

 

5 YEARS AFTER A SUPREME COURT WIN, CHRISTIAN BAKER JACK PHILLIPS’ FIGHT IS FAR FROM OVER. For the second time, Colorado baker Jack Phillips is going to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend his religious liberty from a ruling by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission that, this time, claims he violated the rights of a transgender person who wanted him to bake a cake to celebrate her “gender change.” Read more here.

 

SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CASE OF JUDGE WHO REFUSED SAME-SEX WEDDINGS. The Texas Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in a case involving a Texas Judge who refuses to conduct same-sex marriages, citing her religious beliefs. Read more here.

 

RELIGIOUS RIGHTS GROUP SAYS IT’S QUALIFIED TO TRAIN SOUTHWEST AIRLINES LAWYERS. The conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom argued it is well qualified to instruct three lawyers at Southwest Airlines on religious liberty should an appeals court uphold a federal judge’s order mandating the training as a sanction. Read more here.

 

SUPREME COURT PREVIEW: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CASES ON THE DOCKET. The U.S. Supreme Court during its new term will have the opportunity to reverse precedent that federal agencies have used to justify restrictions on religious liberty. Read more here.

 

RELIGION VS. LGBTQ+ RIGHTS: SUPREME COURT WEIGHS ‘CONVERSION THERAPY’ BANS FOR MINORS. The Supreme Court is being asked to weigh a ban on “conversion therapy” − the practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity − in an appeal that tests the court’s appetite for engaging this term in the legal battle between religion and LGBTQ+ rights. Read more here.

 

COLORADO SUPREME COURT TAKES JACK PHILLIPS FREE SPEECH CASE. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Phillips and his cake shop appealed a Colorado Court of Appeals decision that would force him to express messages in support of “gender transition” that violate his beliefs. Read more here.

 

DIVERSE GROUPS UNITE TO SUPPORT FREEDOM OF SPEECH, RELIGION FOR OREGON EDUCATORS. A number of First Amendment advocates, a feminist group and medical professionals who care for children have united to protect freedom of speech and religion by filing friend-of-the-court briefs in support of two Oregon educators. Read more here.

 

UK HOME SECRETARY ANNOUNCES SILENT PRAYER NEAR ABORTION FACILITIES NOT A CRIME. Britain’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman has announced that silent prayer near abortion providers is not a crime, a statement being hailed as a “real victory for free speech, and pro-life prayer, and for those who showed courage and resilience in standing up for both mothers and babies.” Read more here.

 

AMICUS BRIEF DEFENDS MARYLAND PARENTS’ CASE FOR OPT-OUT. An amicus brief filed in Mahmoud v. Montgomery County (MD) Board of Education claims the Montgomery County Public School system “underestimates” how much its mandatory gender and sexuality curriculum interferes with parents’ religious exercise.” Read more here.

 

FINNISH BIBLE TRIAL CONCLUDES WITH FINAL ATTEMPT TO CRIMINALIZE ‘INSULTING’ CHRISTIAN SPEECH.In the Finnish trial of former government minister Päivi Räsänen, accused of “hate speech” by quoting the Bible, the Helsinki Court of Appeal expects to deliver a verdict in late November. Read more here.

 

‘NOT A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT’: MARYLAND COURT STRIKES DOWN PARENTS’ REQUEST TO OPT KIDS OUT OF LGBT CURRICULUM. A Maryland district court denied parents’ appeal to reinstate an opt-out policy in Montgomery County Public Schools. The case hinged on whether the decision to rescind its opt-out policy for LGBT curricula violated parents’ right to direct the religious instruction of their children. Read more here.

 

FRUIT GROWER WHO OPPPOSES SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WINS RULING OVER ACCESS TO PUBLIC MARKET. The decision by East Lansing, Michigan to exclude Steve Tennes and Country Mill Farms from a marketplace “constituted a burden on plaintiffs’ religious beliefs,” U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney said in applying a U.S. Supreme Court precedent to the case. Read more here.

 

JUDGE HALTS MANDATORY RELIGIOUS FREEDOM TRAINING FOR SOUTHWEST AIRLINES LAWYERS. A judge placed a temporary hold on an earlier court order requiring lawyers at Southwest Airlines to undergo a training session on religious liberty issues in response to the company firing a woman for expressing pro-life views, after it lost a lawsuit by the flight attendant who refused to participate with the organization’s support for Planned Parenthood. Read more here.

 

FINNISH POLITICIAN ON TRIAL FOR TWEET TO ADDRESS PRESS CONFERENCE. The Helsinki Court of Appeal will soon hear the free speech case surrounding Finnish member of parliament Päivi Räsänen and Bishop Juhana Pohjola, both charged with “hate speech” for publicly sharing their faith-based beliefs. Read more here.

 

CHRISTIAN PRESCHOOLS SUE COLORADO OVER UNIVERSAL PRE-K PROGRAM. Multiple Christian preschools allege in a federal lawsuit that the state has excluded them from participating in the Colorado Universal Preschool Program Act because it would force them to hire people who do not uphold their religious teachings on sexuality and marriage. Read more here.

 

NJ SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS RELIGIOUS SCHOOL’S CHOICE TO HIRE TEACHERS THAT FOLLOW THEIR FAITH. The state’s high court ruled in favor of a Catholic school allowing it to make decisions to train students in the faith without the government’s interference. Read more here.

 

GEEK SQUAD EMPLOYEE SAYS BOSSES MANDATED LGBT INDOCTRINATION, BANNED CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS. A Christian employee of Geek Squad, the tech support arm of Best Buy, was reportedly rebuked and told that he couldn’t display evidence of his Christian beliefs after he objected to the LGBT flags and other paraphernalia adorning the office space. Read more here.

 

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS SOUTHWEST AIRLINES ATTORNEYS TO ATTEND ‘RELIGIOUS-LIBERTY TRAINING’ FROM CONSERVATIVE GROUP. A federal judge in Texas ordered three attorneys for Southwest Airlines to attend “religious-liberty training” from a conservative legal advocacy group as punishment for allegedly violating his ruling in a religious discrimination case brought against the company by a fired flight attendant. Read more here.

 

RED STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ANNOUNCES UPDATED PARENTAL BILL OF RIGHTS ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced a fourth edition of the “Indiana Parent’s Bill of Rights” to help parents understand how and when their children can freely exercise their religion in public schools. Read more here.

 

FIRED CHRISTIAN BIOLOGY PROFESSOR FILES RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT. For teaching that X and Y chromosomes determine human genders, Adjunct Professor Johnson Varkey was fired, and now he’s suing St. Phillips College for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Read more here.

 

SUPREME COURT SAYS WEB DESIGNER CAN DENY LGBTQ+ COUPLES. NY PHOTOGRAPHER SUIT RESURFACES. Emilee Carpenter, who specializes in wedding photography, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court claiming New York’s requirement that because she photographs weddings between a man and a woman she must do likewise for same-sex couples, violating her religious beliefs and constitutional rights. Read more here.

 

MAJORITY OF GERMANS THINK A CHURCH DOES NOT HAVE TO FLY A RAINBOW FLAG. More than two-thirds (68 percent) of the respondents to a survey by Die Tagespost responded “no” to the question of whether or not churches should hang LGBT flags on their buildings to show tolerance and human rights. Read more here.

 

INDIANA MUSIC TEACHER’S RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CASE HEADS BACK TO DISTRICT COURT. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit vacated its previous opinion against the religious accommodation of high school music teacher John Kluge, who was terminated for declining to name students by their preferred pronouns. Read more here.

 

TEXAS NURSE WINS RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION ON ABORTION FOR VA EMPLOYEES. Stephanie Carter won a lawsuit against the Veterans Administration (VA) resulting in a nationwide policy protecting the religious liberty rights of all VA employees. Read more here.

 

UK MAN CLEARED FOR SILENT PRAYER AFTER HE WAS INITIALLY FINED. Authorities have ended legal action against Adam Smith-Connor, an army veteran and father who was issued a fine for praying silently within an abortion facility buffer zone. Read more here.

 

APPEALS COURT RULES CATHOLIC SCHOOL CAN FIRE COUNSELOR OVER HER SAME-SEX MARRIAGE. The court’s decision justified Roncalli High School’s firing of guidance counselor Shelly Fitzgerald, who married a woman. Read more here.

 

‘MODERN-DAY INQUISITION’: GOVERNMENT POUNCING ON CHRISTIAN AGAIN FOR BELIEF. Paivi Rasanen, a Christian in Finland, was last year acquitted of hate speech charges and “ethnic agitation” but now is facing yet another legal assault for her faith. Read more here.

 

APPEALS COURT RULES CATHOLIC SCHOOL CAN FIRE COUNSELOR OVER HER SAME-SEX MARRIAGE. The court’s decision justified Roncalli High School’s firing of guidance counselor Shelly Fitzgerald, who married a woman. Read more here.

 

TEXAS JUDGE STILL FIGHTING TO DENY WEDDING CEREMONIES TO SAME-SEX COUPLES. Waco judge Dianne Hensley received a public warning from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for refusing to perform same-sex marriages, but she hopes a recent U.S. Supreme Court victory by Alliance Defending Freedom will help preserve her religious freedom. Read more here.

 

QUEENSLAND UNITING CHURCH MINISTER OPPOSED TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE LOSES UNFAIR DISMISSAL CLAIM. Hedley Wycliff Atunaisa Fihaki was inducted as a minister of the Mooloolaba Uniting church in 2013 but was dismissed after making statements against same-sex marriage in social and mainstream media between January 2019 and August 2021. Read more here.

 

U.S. Supreme Court protects free speech for all. In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held in 303 Creative v. Elenis that “the opportunity to think for ourselves and to express those thoughts freely is among our most cherished liberties and part of what keeps our Republic strong.” Read more here.

 

Texas, North Dakota pharmacy sue the Biden administration. The state of Texas and a Catholic-run pharmacy in North Dakota challenged the Biden administration’s mandate requiring pharmacies that serve patients on federal assistance to dispense abortion drugs. Read more here.

 

Groff v. DeJoy: What the Supreme Court’s decision means for you. The Supreme Court unanimously made it easier for employees to obtain religious accommodations at their workplace. Read more here.

 

UN anti-discrimination report leads to worries about religious freedom. The National Council of Evangelicals of France (CNEF) is worried that claims of discrimination against the LGBT community will lead to limits on religious freedom. Read more here.

 

Religious freedom wins in court case about trans medical procedures. Doctors, other medical personnel and hospitals with faith-based objections to transgender surgeries are celebrating a win against an Obamacare mandate as President Joe Biden declined to appeal a ruling to the Supreme Court. Read more here.

 

UN anti-discrimination report leads to worries about religious freedom. The National Council of Evangelicals of France (CNEF) is worried that claims of discrimination against the LGBT community will lead to limits on religious freedom. Read more here.

 

Religious freedom wins in court case about trans medical procedures. Doctors, other medical personnel and hospitals with faith-based objections to transgender surgeries are celebrating a win against an Obamacare mandate as President Joe Biden declined to appeal a ruling to the Supreme Court. Read more here.

 

Top German court upholds freedom of assembly: prayer group may pray near abortion organization. In a new ruling, the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig confirms that blanket bans against peaceful prayer gatherings near abortion organisations are impermissible. Read more here.

 

Norway “conversion” ban will not affect religious intercession. The Norwegian Bar Association has reassured Norway’s pastors that the likely ban on “conversion” therapy will not prohibit clergy from praying for individuals who experience same-sex attraction. Read more here.

 

UN attempts to impose LGBT orthodoxy on all religions. Religious freedom ends where LGBT rights begin according to the conclusion of a new UN report on the right to freedom of religion and belief submitted by the UN independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz. Read more here.