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December 30, 2008

First Amendment Takes a Hit in New Jersey
(from Liberty Counsel)

Government Agency Says Lesbians’ Civil Rights Violated when Church Refused Civil Union on Property

Trenton, NJ – The New Jersey Division of Civil Rights announced a “Finding of Probable Cause” that the United Methodist Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association “discriminated” against a self-described lesbian pair, by refusing to allow Harriet Bernstein and Luisa Paster to rent its church-owned Boardwalk Pavilion for a so-called “civil union ceremony.” The Pavilion is situated on one square mile of church-owned, beachfront property in Ocean Grove, near Asbury Park.

About 20 years ago, the Association obtained a Green Acres tax exemption from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) after a finding that the Pavilion will be open to the public “on an equal basis.” In March 2007, after New Jersey passed a same-sex civil union law, the lesbian couple applied to use the Pavilion for a civil union ceremony. The Association denied the request because same-sex civil unions conflict with the doctrines of the United Methodist Church. Following filing of the civil rights complaint, the DEP rejected a renewal of the Green Acres tax exemption for the Boardwalk Pavilion. The Association then changed its policy governing the Pavilion and ceased permitting the public to use the Pavilion. Following the change in policy, a second lesbian couple applied for, and was denied, use of the facility. This couple then filed a second civil rights complaint.

The Civil Rights Division issued a probable cause finding regarding the first denial. The “Finding of Probable Cause” states in part, “When it invites the public at large to use it, the Association is subject to the Law Against Discrimination, and enforcement of that law in this context does not affect the Association’s constitutionally protected right to free exercise of religion.” The Civil Rights Division then rejected a probable cause finding against the second denial, after the open access policy was changed. According to the report, “A Finding of Probable Cause does not resolve a civil rights complaint. Rather, it means the state has concluded its preliminary investigation and determined there is sufficient evidence to support a reasonable suspicion the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) has been violated.”

Mathew D. Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented, “The clash between same-sex unions and religious freedom has arrived, and that clash will increase. We’ve seen a pastor arrested in Sweden for preaching that homosexuality is contrary to biblical principles. When the alarm was sounded, some thought it was all hype. But when a church has to sacrifice its religious convictions in order to invite the public to use its facilities, the threat to liberty is not hype. Whenever a right is granted to same-sex unions, then a right is taken from religious liberty and freedom of speech. Same-sex unions pose a serious threat to freedom of conscience and free exercise of religion.”

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