Homosexuality

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (BP) -- A father in Canada has committed "family violence," according to a Canadian court, for referring to his teenage daughter as a female in spite of her desire to transition to a male gender identity. The Supreme Court of Canada's British Columbia province issued a "protection order" barring the father from referring to his daughter publicly or privately by her birth name or female pronouns. He also was barred from "attempting to persuade [her] to abandon" her gender transition, according to an April 15 court ruling.

EVANSTON, Ill. (BP) -- A ruling by the United Methodist Church's highest court has upheld the denomination's support of traditional marriage and its opposition to LGBT ordination. The ruling, some evangelical commentators say, could portend a split in the UMC. "The United Methodist Church is not going to be able to hold together" as its liberal and conservative elements espouse conflicting views of human sexuality among other matters, R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said today (April 29) in his podcast "The Briefing." "It is not going to be a united Methodist Church. The polarities within the denomination are simply too great."

WASHINGTON (BP) -- New legislation that bans discrimination against gay and transgender people would cripple Americans' freedom of conscience rights, Christian and conservative leaders say.

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. (BP) -- A dean has resigned from Rider University because the school used Chick-fil-A's Christian views of LGBT lifestyles to block the restaurant from locating on campus. The Lawrenceville, N.J., university's decision is an affront to her Christianity and violates her conscience, Cynthia Newman said in resigning as dean of the College of Business Administration, a post she had held since June 2017.

ST. LOUIS (BP) -- United Methodist bishops are promoting unity in the global church after delegates narrowly retained biblical marriage and a ban on LGBT ordination at a contentious 2019 General Conference in St. Louis.

WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday (Jan. 22) to allow the enforcement of President Trump's ban on transgender military service, a ban previously frozen by lower court injunctions. The policy immediately stops transgender persons from entering the military except "under certain limited circumstances," according to media reports. It was first announced by Trump via Twitter in July 2017 and then tweaked in March 2018 to help it pass through lower courts attempting to block it. See related Baptist Press report.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BP) -- The success of LGBT activists in dictating how therapists counsel minors about sexuality and gender dysphoria reportedly continues to gain momentum as 2019 begins. Some pro-LGBT groups want to make it illegal for therapists to encourage children to embrace heterosexuality or their biological sex and expect legislative victories in at least four states this year: Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts and New York. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia, as well as cities and municipalities in seven other states, have laws against so-called "conversion therapy" on the books. Last week, the Denver City Council reportedly voted unanimously to similarly restrict therapists.

AMSTERDAM (BP) -- In the Netherlands, signatories of The Nashville Statement on biblical sexuality have been threatened with criminal prosecution, admonished by employers and derided by protests. The episode has been cited by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. as "an ominous warning" of religious liberty restrictions to come in the U.S. "There are many in the United States who would say, 'Well, that's the Netherlands. It can't have anything to do with Christians in the United States,'" Mohler said Jan. 9 in his podcast The Briefing. "But of course it can.

ENGLAND (BP) -- The Church of England issued pastoral guidance last month instituting a new "gender transition service," a move conservative Anglicans decried as contrary to the Bible. The guidance, published Dec. 11 and approved by the House of Bishops, the upper house of the tricameral Church of England General Synod, laid out a model for a "celebratory" service to mark the church's official recognition of a person as a sex different from that of his or her birth.

NEW YORK (BP) -- People who don't believe they're either male or female can now choose a third gender in New York City and California, joining six other states and Washington, D.C., that allow the option. Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington State and Washington, D.C. allow a non-binary gender option, often designated by X on legal documents including driver's licenses and birth certificates. Gender X becomes legal in New Jersey in February, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality's tracking site. Vermont is in the process of making the change, and state officials pledged in January 2018 to have the option in place by July of this year.