House of Representatives

Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the )

Summary Appendix A: Examples

While the Bill does not rely upon the following rulings as a form of precedent to guide its interpretation, the following matters provide examples of the conduct it seeks variously to address:

a)

In the United Kingdom, the Charities Commission for England and Wales removed the charitable status of 19 Catholic adoption and foster agencies because they preferred not to adopt or foster to same-sex couples. This caused many of these agencies to close down or transfer their operations as they were no longer exempt for the purposes of tax. ^[5]

b)

In New Zealand, Family First was deregistered by the Charities Board because of its commitment to traditional marriage which no longer could be regarded as a public benefit. ^[6]

c)

In Johns v Derby County Council 2011¸ the English High Court supported a local council decision that a Christian couple with traditional views on sexual ethics, who had successfully fostered many children, would not make suitable foster carers because they would not be open to promoting or accepting a homosexual lifestyle.

d)

In New Jersey the government declared that a Methodist organisation would no longer receive a real estate tax exemption when it declined to allow a same sex couple to have a commitment ceremony in a pavilion that was used for Church services, youth ministry programs and weddings. ^[7]

e)

In Tasmania, a booklet outlining the Catholic position on same-sex marriage distributed by a Catholic Archbishop was held by the Antidiscrimination Commissioner to be a possible violation of anti-vilification legislation. ^[8] The matter proceeded to a conciliation session but was eventually abandoned after many months by the complainant.

f)

In 2011 Adrian Smith from Manchester in England placed on his Facebook page a comment that he did not think that churches should be compelled to marry same-sex couples, although he did not object to same-sex marriage. This was before England allowed same-sex marriage. He was accused by his employer, a housing association, of "gross misconduct" and threatened with dismissal. Because of his long service, he was only demoted; but he lost 40% of his salary. ^[9]

g)

In Australia, calls were made for Dr Stephen Chavura to be dismissed by Macquarie University unless he resigned from another organisation that was perceived to be opposed to same-sex marriage.

h)

In Australia, Dr Pansy Lai had a petition, which gained 5000 signatures, circulated calling for her deregistration as a doctor due to her comments about same-sex marriage and safe schools in a No campaign TV commercial to deregister her as a doctor.

i)

In the United States of America, Chick Fil A was subject to commercial boycotting because of management's views and donations supporting tradition marriage. As part of this local governments and universities refused to allow new Chick Fil A franchises.

j)

In Australia, complaints are current underway against Presbyterian Minister Campbell Markham and street preacher David Gee for expressing their views on same-sex marriage.

k)

In the United Kingdom, the Vishnitz Jewish Girls School failed their school-assessment on one criteria, which was its inadequate promotion of homosexuality and gender reassignment, as it was deemed that these were necessary to have a full understanding of fundamental British values and equality principles.

l)

In British Columbia, Trinity Western University required their students and staff to sign a community covenant which included a promise to abstain from sexual activity, unless it was between a husband and wife. Due to this the British Columbia College of Teachers voted to refuse accreditation to all teaching graduates because they might discriminate against LGBTI students. After many years of litigation, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the right of Trinity graduates to be accredited.

m)

In Canada, Four Provincial (State) Law societies decided to refuse accreditation to the planned law school and program of Trinity Western University on the grounds that the community covenant of the university was discriminatory, not on any grounds relating to the quality of the curriculum or faculty of the law school. The effect of the decision would be to deny graduates of the law school the right to practise law in those Provinces. Two of those Provinces reversed the decision and in the other two ligation about the decisions has been through the Provincial Courts and is now to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.

n)

In Northern Ireland, Ashers Bakery company, run by a Christian couple, was found liable for discrimination because it refused to bake a cake for a political group with the slogan "Support Gay Marriage". Ashers led evidence that it had never refused to supply a person on the grounds of their sexual orientation and did not do so in this case but refused only because it would not disseminate or be associated with the message on the cake. The court held that the sexual orientation of the person who ordered the cake was irrelevant and the refusal to provide a cake with that message on it amounted to discrimination.