Catholic parish faces human rights tribunal for refusing to allow LGBT event at parish hall

Jun 3, 2020 by Jill

by Anthony Murdoch, LifeSite:

The pro-gay group insists that the church ‘singled out’ the group as not welcome to use the church space to promote homosexuality.

An adjudicator has ruled that a Canadian Catholic church must now face a human rights hearing for refusing to allow an LGBT “Pride” group to hold a fundraising event at its parish hall last year, according to a May 28 Blacklock’s Reporter report.

In March of 2019, the Star of the Sea Catholic Church in White Rock British Columbia refused an application from the White Rock Pride Society to host a “Love Is Love” ”Pride Week” fundraiser at the church’s parish hall, which is located next to the church.

As a result, the White Rock Pride Society filed a complaint to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal in June 2019, saying the church “singled out” the group as not welcome to use the church space, despite other groups being allowed to use it.

“In doing so … the parish damaged the inherent dignity, feelings and self-respect of the pride society’s members, who identify as part of and support the LGBTQ+ community,” said the society president, Ernie Klassen, in a June 2019 CBC report.

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