USA: deconstructing language
Breakpoint / The Gospel Coalition
Date posted: 1 Aug 2020
In mid-June, with a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of sex, also includes sexual orientation and gender identity.
The decision, Bostock vs Clayton County, involved three cases. In two of them, a social worker and a skydiving instructor claimed they were fired for being gay. The third case involved the firing of a funeral home employee (of Harris Funeral Homes) who, after being hired as a man, identified and presented as a woman.
USA: ‘hate speech policy’
Christian Post
Date posted: 1 Aug 2020
A video of a panel discussion including Walt Heyer, a Christian man who detransitioned back to his male birth sex, was taken off YouTube in June after it was deemed ‘offensive’.
Heyer, the founder of Sex Change Regret, was part of a Heritage Foundation panel last October, where he detailed his experiences with taking hormones and undergoing body-altering surgery to look more like a woman. During the panel discussion Heyer said that in the eight years he lived as a woman, he learned that, while he could change his appearance, sex is an immutable characteristic.
news in brief
Azerbaijan: fired
On 10 June, Baku Appeal Court rejected arguments that letters given to a Christian fired from his workplace were illegal.
Former parliamentary staffer Rahim Akhundov said he was fired in December 2018 on secret police orders because he is a Christian. Courts said he could not appeal earlier as Parliament sent the letter nine months late. He will appeal to the Supreme Court when he receives the written appeal rejection.
news in brief
Algeria: trying to stay open
An order to close a church building in the city of Oran was issued in 2019 but was not conveyed to the pastor until the middle of January.
This action prevented an appeal being made at the time. The church pastor’s lawyer notified the judge of the delay and it is hoped that the church can still appeal within ten days of receipt of the order.