The Catholic church of Australia published a booklet about marriage, explaining why the institution is for men and women, not same-sex couples, and setting forth basic Christian teachings on the matter. Now it faces a discrimination complaint filed by a transgendered gay activist (a man in a relationship with a woman, but then he had sex change surgery so now he is also a lesbian).
Anyone can file a complaint, of course. and surely this will be thrown out. Australia doesn’t even have same-sex marriage. But we see here the impulse on the part of some activists not only to gain a right but to suppress those who disagree.
From Keith Fournier, Tasmanian Devil Strikes: Australian Catholic Church Charged with Discrimination for Defending Marriage | The Stream:
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference recently published a booklet titled Don’t Mess With Marriage. A pastoral letter on the same-sex marriage debate directed to all Australians, not just Catholics, it sets forth the teaching of the Bible and the Christian tradition concerning the nature and ends of marriage.
It presents in simple language the doctrine the Catholic Church has always taught, and for that Martine Delaney of Tasmania filed a legal complaint against them.
Delaney filed the complaint with the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commission. She alleged that the bishops violated Section 17 of the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Act. In effect, he asserts that Catholic teaching constitutes “conduct which offends, humiliates, intimidates, insults or ridicules” a member of a protected class.
Delaney, a self-described “transgender and transsexual” who lives in Tasmania, had “gender reassignment surgery” and is also in a long standing sexual relationship with a biological woman. He is an activist in the “gender identity movement” and a spokeswoman for a Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group. Its members insist not only that one can change ones sex at will, but that the civil Government should protect this as a civil right and use police power to impose this understanding on everyone else.
Delaney has demanded that the Catholic Church issue a formal public apology for the booklet. Even worse, Delaney demands that the Church be compelled to implement Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex awareness programs for all staff and students within the Catholic school system. In other words, he wants the state to force the Church to agree with him and to teach even children his beliefs about sexuality. . . .
The investigation is currently underway.
[Keep reading. . .]
HT: Paul McCain
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