Trinity Western University, a B.C. school, can open a law school. But the Supreme Court says it just can’t discriminate against some people who want to study there.
The high court made the right call.
After bouncing through lower courts, the university’s case finally landed at the highest one, and the justices ruled 7-2 that religious freedom doesn’t extend to discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.
The saga began when Trinity Western sought a stamp of approval from the various provincial law societies, which have the power to decide which schools’ graduates can be enrolled as lawyers. Most agreed, but B.C. and Ontario’s societies said no, because of the university’s mandatory community covenant.
By signing the covenant, students agree they will abstain from “sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman.” That effectively denies entry to LGBTQ people.
The court didn’t have a problem with TWU providing a Christian education for aspiring lawyers. It did have a problem with creating a barrier to LGBTQ students or others who don’t share the school’s beliefs on sex.
One justice wrote: “The coercion of nonbelievers” is not a protected religious right.
If Trinity Western wants to pursue its dream of a law school, it is welcome to do so. It has to decide whether it can build the school without that clause in its covenant.
