Posted on 07/09/2007 12:29:45 PM PDT by bahblahbah
A lesbian couple in New Jersey has filed a complaint against a Methodist-owned campground, claiming illegal discrimination because their request for a civil union ceremony on the property was denied.
Harriet Bernstein and Luisa Paster in March applied for use of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association's Boardwalk Pavilion for their civil union ceremony, planned for September. The Methodist organization rejected their application and later told Bernstein in an email that it did not allow civil unions to be held on the pavilion.
Bernstein and Paster filed a complaint against the OGCMA in June, alleging illegal discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation.
In their complaint, the couple requested "whatever relief is provided by law" including "compensatory damages for economic loss, humiliation, [and] mental pain." They also demanded that the pavilion be made available for their ceremony.
At a meeting of members, chief administrative officer Rev. Scott Hoffman argued that the campground had every right to prohibit civil unions. He called the pavilion a "church building" that "has always been used for worship services and gospel concerts."
The OGCMA is a Methodist organization, with a board of trustees comprising 10 pastors and 10 lay people. As such, the organization operates according to Methodist teachings, Hoffman said.
"Those who make decisions are bound to the United Methodist Book of Discipline, which states that homosexual unions cannot be performed in church buildings, whether by clergy or lay people," he said.
Hoffman also pointed out that locations not used for worship purposes - including the boardwalk and the beach - were open for civil union ceremonies.
Garden State Equality, a political action organization that represents "the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community," asked supporters to write to the OGCMA, saying the civil unions ban was an affront to the Ocean Grove community.
"It's hard to believe this is happening in our progressive state of New Jersey," GSE says on its website.
The organization contended that the ban was illegal, saying that it "violates the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination because the property is, in fact, public ... by virtue of having been used by the public for many years."
But the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group that is representing the OGCMA in the dispute, said that forcing the pavilion to host civil unions would be unconstitutional.
Brian Raum, ADF senior legal counsel, said enforcing the complaint would intrude on the rights of the Methodists as a religious organization.
"The government shouldn't force churches to violate their own religious principles," he said. "Private, religious property owners have the right to decide what can and cannot take place on their property."
According to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, entities that "offer goods, services, and facilities to the general public" are prohibited from "directly or indirectly denying or withholding any accommodation, service, benefit, or privilege to an individual" on the basis of sexual orientation.
But according to the ADF, New Jersey is still subject to the First Amendment, and state statutes that limit liberties guaranteed by the Constitution must be overturned.
New Jersey is considered to be one of the most liberal states in America. Last October, the state Supreme Court gave the New Jersey legislature 180 days to provide for civil unions under the law, and the legislature has complied.
Same-sex "marriage" is still illegal in New Jersey, although it is favored by 56 percent of residents, according to a Zogby poll.
lets get some pics of nice looking ones please
They weren't denied on the basis of "sexual orientation" they were denied because "civil unions are not allowed".........
Mmmm...Socialist hellhole.
I hate you! (only kidding,of course).
P.S.,you beat me by 4 seconds.
Thats a new one. WTF????
Are you suggesting that we post pics of porn lesbians instead of pics of the real ones (who might look like linebackers)?
Not long until Michael Jackson wants to hold one of his ‘ceremonies’ on church proerty.
...Methodist-owned campground = CHURCH
OK! Let's keep the church and state separated.
you betcha!
So if you are NOT a member in good standing in our church... you don't have the right to get married here.
I could be wrong but I don't remember anything in the US Constitution that gives anyone a right to get married anywhere they please...
Methinks this lesbian couple is deliberately looking for a fight to do two things -- make loads of money and to cram sexual orientation down the throats of established religions...
What a stupid approach! Their lawyers must be running out of ideas.
Isn’t there an allyway beside a “Womyn’s Only” Club where they can commit themselves?
Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. This is why you don’t give in to any form of gay unions. They don’t need them and they don’t deserve them either.
Actually, I remember a case from the 9th Circuit that said a landlord had the right not to rent to an unmarried couple based on the landlord’s freedom of religion - seems to me that same principle would apply here.
First they want “civil unions” then marriage then they want to FORCE you to allow use of your property. What a gay group of people.
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