What's notable about these two cases is that both the couple and the intern are having the same lawyer represent them. Herbert Grey, a man that defines and pubs himself as "The Christian Attorney," says that Christians are carrying the weight of being unconstitutional because they openly state their ideals. He says that he brings his beliefs to work with him and operates with an organization of like minded lawyers under the name "Neighborhood Christian Lawyer." One of Grey's cases involved supporting a priest who was ejected from two pride rallies and an AIDS walk for reading scriptures to the LGBT crowds. While I understand that this man had the right to speak I believe he could've chosen a more appropriate place to do so. Places where people are looking for acceptance or rallying for the end of a devastating disease is not the place for something like this.
In the case of Margarita Vejo, the intern who was terminated, supervisors described the school she interned at as being diverse with "Numerous," LGBT students. As an intern, Vejo was working primarily with counselors that handle the problems of students. In a letter written to the college asking for permission to terminate Vejo's internship, a counselor stated that she lacked two very important things needed to work at a high school. For one she lacked the "Cultural competency," needed to work with the schools large percentage of homeless students. The counselor then goes on to say Vejo lacked "Social justice competency." Vejo would openly make comments referring to the LGBT students as "diseased," or "Bad or wrong." She even asked why the school had a Gay Straight Alliance and why they should refer students to the organization. When Grey was asked whether or not a counselor who openly expresses negative views of LGBT students should be allowed to work in a public school he responded by saying, “That is not our case, but even if it was, I would say yes.” I find this sad because high school is a trying time for anyone and it's when they're looking for who they are. They don't need someone who they're supposed to trust telling them that who they are is wrong.
Freedom of religion. It's something that was given to us by our founding fathers and is defined as an unalienable right. Pair this with freedom of speech and you have created a molotov cocktail that has given the person the right to state their side of matters without disruption even if you don't agree with it. The battle for LGBT rights has called for the constitution to be re-examined to see what qualifies as unconstitutional and determines when someones rights have been taken away from them. So with that in mind, you can't be angry at a person for stating their side on a lasting issue. In fact you must welcome their opinions in order to have knowledge on both sides. this way you have a better argument. I'm neither straight nor Christian so I may just be biased on the issue but I believe that some people make situations too complicated. To say that your rights as a Christian have been taken away is a bit of a stretch. From the time our nation was conceived, rights were reserved to Christians and religions that fell under the Christian jurisdiction. They were the only people who weren't prosecuted and in fact did the prosecuting. All rights were reserved to them and they held the most power. These rights have transferred through time with people such as politicians using "God," as a reason why they should be put in a place of power. For some, these ideals have caused the phrase, "One nation under god," to become a looming reminder that others think that what they do, who they love, or what god they believe in is wrong and will only end in misery.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/dominicholden/this-lawyer-thinks-lgbt-people-are-trampling-on-the-rights-o
Letter to the college about Margarita Vejo
http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1357849-margarita-vejo-case-letter-from-cooper-to-lewis.html#document/p1
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