Daily BrewB.C. law school that bars gay sex gains preliminary OK but may face legal challenge
The fight over whether a religion-based school can make abstention from gay sex a prerequisite for admission could end up in court.
Ironic, since Trinity Western University is fighting to set up a law school.
The private Christian university located in Langley, B.C., just east of Vancouver, cleared an important hurdle this week when the Federation of Law Societies of Canada gave preliminary approval to the school's accreditation.
The decision came over the objections of critics who complained the school's demand that the university's community covenant agreement requiring students, staff and faculty to abstain from “sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman” is discriminatory.
A footnote to the provision cites a biblical passage condemning homosexuality, the Globe and Mail noted in its report.
Opponents say that while the covenant also bars premarital sex for heterosexual couples, it discriminates against same-sex married couples because the school does not recognize gay marriage, according to Postmedia News.
[ Related: Federation of Law Societies of Canada approves TWU School of Law ]
"We recognize that there has been considerable debate with respect to the fact that TWU is a faith-based university," university president Bob Kuhn said in a news release.
"Now that the federation has approved the program, we can move on from that debate and build an excellent law school to serve the Canadian public."
Kuhn promised that while the university has strong religious roots, it's committed to teaching all aspects of law, including human rights, ethics and professionalism.
“I’m pleased that the federation did not bow to the vocal nature of the opposition and did what we had asked them to do: Look at the facts, apply the law, analyze the program based on its merits,” Kuhn said, according to the Globe. “We think that it does validate that a Christian university has a place in a pluralistic society.”
In its announcement, the federation said the issues raised about the covenant agreement were "outside the scope of the approval committee mandate."
"The federation decided that these issues should be addressed and appointed a special advisory committee of respected leaders of the legal profession to examine them," its statement said.
"The advisory committee concluded that as long as the National Requirement is met, there is no public interest reason to exclude future graduates of the TWU program from law society bar admission programs."
That committee has recommended the federation consider adding a non-discrimination provision to its National Requirement similar to that required for American law schools. Federation president Marie-Claude Bélanger-Richard said the idea will be explored.
[ Related: Proposed Christian law school under fire due to ban on gay relationships ]
Bélanger-Richard told the Globe that Trinity Western’s covenant is “a matter of conduct” and “a matter of personal choice,” and is “satisfied that [the special committee] really covered all aspects of this issue.”
“I understand that it’s a community covenant agreement that students will have to sign, but at the same time, we don’t have any evidence how the discrimination, if any, would be applied,” she said.
The new law school still needs approval from the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education, and prominent Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby, a staunch opponent, warned "there will be a lawsuit," challenging it on grounds the covenant violates the Charter of Rights, the Globe said.
He called the federation's decision "cowardly nonsense" because "it punts the issue" to the B.C. government.
“It’s a simple act of discrimination against gays and lesbians," the civil-rights lawyer told the Globe.
"To the extent that this school has law students, the door is closed to gay and lesbian lawyers and judges, and that is demeaning not only to them, but to all of us."
Dalhousie University law professor Wayne MacKay told the Globe the federation is probably on firm legal ground, citing a 2001 Supreme Court of Canada decision upholding Trinity's right to religious-based policies.
But lawyers are supposed to be role models for equality, he said, and “the message [the school] sends to gay students and students who may graduate from that institution is a negative one.”
The Council of Canadian Law Deans, representing other law schools, has also opposed the covenant's application to Trinity law students, calling it "fundamentally at odds with the core values of all Canadian law schools."
