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PA Family

When a politician tells you that Christian schools will not be threatened, they’re wrong.

Summary:

Senate Bill 613 & House Bill 1410 are proposed bills in the Pennsylvania legislature that would change state anti-discrimination laws which would prohibit religious schools, churches, and religious non-profits from limiting the hiring of faculty and staff only to those that adhere to and live by religious sexual norms.  Tax exemptions for religious ministries who do not agree to adhere to the hiring parameters outlined in the legislation are also put at risk.

Facts & Sources:

MASSACHUSETTS: In 2016, a court held that because sexual orientation was now a special class, a Catholic School, even though permitted to hire all its employees on the basis of religion, could no longer extend that practice to religious beliefs or practices dealing with sexual orientation. View source

PENNSYLVANIA: In 2013, Holy Ghost Preparatory School of Bensalem (a Catholic school) dismissed a teacher for announcing he was marrying his same-sex partner. That action by the teacher is a direct violation of church teaching.  Pennsylvania legislation, SB 613 would have made this school’s decision illegal. Senator Daylin Leach, sponsor of SB 613, the so-called “Fairness Act”, believes that the long-standing practice of Catholic schools requiring their teachers to follow the teachings of the Catholic Church should be illegal.

  • “Michael Griffin, an openly gay teacher at Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem, was fired on Friday for obtaining a marriage license with his longtime partner in New Jersey and the dismissal was completely legal under Pennsylvania state law…State Sen. Daylin Leach said he’d like to see that changed by amending the Pennsylvania human Relations Act to include language to cover sexual orientation.” View source
  • Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery.“If it was illegal to fire a gay person, it would be illegal to fire someone even if they signed a contract saying, ‘You can fire me because I’m gay.’ Those sorts of contracts are usually rendered unenforceable by this type of law.” View source

Take action:

Use PA Family Council’s Citizen Action Center to tell your State Senator & State Representative to oppose Senate Bill 613 & House Bill 1410: tinyurl.com/DontHarmPA