Faith in the future: Sexuality, religion and the public sphere

Oxford Journal of Legal Studies

Volumn 29, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 729-755

  Stychin, Carl F ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF READING   (United Kingdom)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 76349090923     PISSN: 01436503     EISSN: 14643820     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/ojls/gqp016     Document Type: Article

References (215)

1. See K Nash, 'Human Rights Culture: Solidarity, Diversity and the Right to be Different' (2005) 9 Citizenship Studies 335-48.
2. Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations SI 2003/1661; Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations SI 2007/1263; Civil Partnership Act 2004. The issue of religious speech and incitement to homophobic hatred is another important issue, but beyond the scope of this article.
3. See I Leigh, 'Homophobic Speech, Equality Denial and Religious Expression' in I Hare and J Weinstein (eds), Extreme Speech and Democracy (OUP, Oxford 2009) 373.
4. See generally, R Sandberg and N Doe, 'Religious Exemptions in Discrimination Law' (2007) 66 CLJ 302-12.
5. See KD Ewing, 'The Human Rights Act and Parliamentary Democracy' (1999) 62 MLR 79-99.
6. M Smith, 'Framing Same-sex Marriage in Canada and the United States: Goodridge, Halpern and the National Boundaries of Political Discourse' (2007) 16 Social and Legal Studies 5-26.
7. A Bradney, Law and Faith in a Sceptical Age (Routledge-Cavendish, Abingdon 2009) 33.
8. R Ahdar and I Leigh, Religious Freedom in the Liberal State (OUP, Oxford 2005) 163.
9. BL Berger, 'Law's Religion: Rendering Culture' (2007) 45 Osgoode Hall LJ 277-314, 303.
10. While some would argue that religious accommodation can fit comfortably into standard liberal discourse, my argument is that, in this field, it is an increasingly difficult relationship which presents a challenge for liberalism.
11. A Fielding, 'When Rights Collide: Liberalism, Pluralism and Freedom of Religion in Canada' (2008) 13 Appeal 28-50, 33.
12. I am not claiming here that the liberal system has never accommodated the public manifestation of religious belief; only that to do so, when that manifestation is perceived as itself illiberal, leaves liberalism in a dilemma.
13. Berger (n 8) 294.
14. J Rivers, 'Law, Religion and Gender Equality' (2007) 9 Ecclesiastical LJ 24-52, 47.
15. Fielding (n 9) 31.
16. GW Dent Jr, 'Civil Rights for Whom?: Gay Rights Versus Religious Freedom' (2006-2007) 95 Kentucky LJ 553-647, 637-8.
17. Fielding (n 9) 31.
18. C Feldblum, 'Moral Conflict and Liberty: Gay Rights and Religion' (2006) 72 Brooklyn LJ 61-123, 87.
19. [2005] UKHL 15.
20. Ibid [16].
21. Ibid [17].
22. R v Headteacher and Governors of Denbigh High School [2006] UKHL 15, [54] [emphasis added].
23. Williamson (n 16) [23].
24. Ibid [24].
25. Berger (n 8) 291.
26. Ahdar and Leigh (n 7) 165.
27. Bradney (n 6) 30.
28. Ahdar and Leigh (n 7) 165.
29. Ibid 161.
30. Ibid 184.
31. This is also the case in the USA, where 'the burden of complying with antidiscrimination rules has become one of the premier concerns of conservative Christians'.
32. A Koppelman, 'You Can't Hurry Love: Why Antidiscrimination Protections for Gay People Should Have Religious Exemptions' (2006) 72 Brooklyn LJ 125-46, 135.
33. See eg A Opromolla, 'Law, Gender and Religious Belief in Europe: Considerations from a Catholic Perspective' (2007) 9 Ecclesiastical LJ 161-74, 164.
34. Rivers (n 11) 36.
35. See eg the decision of the South African Constitutional Court in Christian Education South Africa v Minister of Education 2000 (4) SA 757 (CC).
36. See eg G Trotter, 'The Right to Decline Performance of Same-Sex Civil Marriages: The Duty to Accommodate Public Servants - A Response to Professor MacDougall' (2007) 70 Saskatchewan L Rev 365-92.
37. Berger (n 8) 283-91.
38. See B MacDougall, 'Refusing to Officiate at Same-Sex Civil Marriages' (2006) 69 Saskatchewan L Rev 351-73.
39. R Wintemute, 'Religion vs Sexual Orientation: A Clash of Human Rights?' (2002) 1 J L Equality 125-54.
40. J Butler, 'Sexual Politics, Torture, and Secular Time' (2008) 59 BJS 1-23, 4.
41. R (Amicus - MSF section and others) v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry [2004] IRLR 430 (Admin).
42. Ibid [115].
43. Ibid [117].
44. The use of the idea of exceptionality is indebted to K Attell (tr), G Agamben, State of Exception (University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2005).
45. Amicus (n 36) [119].
46. Rivers (n 11) 36.
47. Trotter (n 32) 367.
48. I develop this point in C F Stychin, 'Closet Cases: "Conscientious Objection" to Lesbian and Gay Legal Equality' (2009) 18 Griffith L Rev 17-40.
49. [2008] NI 86 (QB).
50. Ibid [34].
51. Ibid [50].
52. Ibid [65].
53. Ibid [89].
54. McClintock v Department of Constitutional Affairs [2008] IRLR 29 (EAT).
55. Ibid [62].
56. London Borough of Islington v Ladele and Liberty [2009] IRLR 154 (EAT).
57. Ibid [9].
58. Ibid [111].
59. Ibid [127].
60. McFarlane v Relate Avon Ltd, Employment Tribunals, 17 December 2008.
61. Ibid [46].
62. M Beckford, 'Religious workers fear they could be forced from jobs in wake of tribunal appeal' Telegraph (20 December 2008) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/newstopics/religion/3851503/Religious-workers-fear-they-couldbe-forced-from-jobs-in-wake-of-tribunal-appeal.htm accessed 24 March 2009.
63. M Beckford, 'Christian registrar loses appeal with Islington council over civil partnerships' (19 December 2008) http://www.christian.org.uk/pressreleases/2008/12december/19dec08.htm accessed 24 March 2009.
64. Commission (EC), 'Proposal for a Council Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation' COM (2008) 426, 2 July 2008. The European Parliament has passed a number of amendments 'which strengthened the package of proposals and stripped out the exemptions for "organisations based on religion and belief " ' as well as qualifying other religious exemptions.
65. J Wynne-Jones, 'EU law may force faith schools to take atheists' Sunday Telegraph (London 12 April 2009) News 8. The draft directive has yet to receive approval of the European Council.
66. Commission (EC), 'EU Directive on goods and services' (winter 2008/09) http://www.christian.org.uk/issues/2008/eudirective/briefwinter08.pdf accessed 24 March 2009.
67. See generally E Gerstmann, The Constitutional Underclass: Gays, Lesbians, and the Failure of Class-Based Equal Protection (University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1999).
68. M Minow, 'Should Religious Groups be Exempt from Civil Rights Laws?' (2007) 48 Boston College L Rev 781-849, 820.
69. Ibid 821.
70. Dent (n 13) 566.
71. Ibid 560.
72. 494 US 872 (1989).
73. Ibid 878-9.
74. 374 US 398 (1963).
75. 406 US 205 (1972).
76. Smith (n 70) 882.
77. Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc v City of Hialeah 508 US 520 (1992).
78. See eg Dent (n 13) 558.
79. Smith (n 70) 908. Congress responded with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (and a number of states took similar decisions). This law sought to restore the broader definition of free exercise; and 'more than half the states appear to have adopted some version of the Sherbert-Yoder test'.
80. D Laycock, 'Theology Scholarships, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Religious Liberty: Avoiding the Extremes by Missing the Liberty' (2004) 118 Harv L Rev 155-246, 212.
81. Dent (n 13) 559.
82. Minow (n 65) 782.
83. Corporation of the Presiding Bishops v Amos 483 US 327 (1987).
84. Dent (n 13) 564.
85. Minow (n 65) 814. This situation is analogous to the debate surrounding adoption by same-sex couples and Catholic adoption agencies in the UK.
86. I consider the question in CF Stychin, 'Faith in Rights: the Struggle Over Same-Sex Adoption in the United Kingdom' (2008) 17 Constitutional Forum Constitutionnel 7-15.
87. 515 US 557 (1994).
88. For a thorough analysis of the decision see CA Yalda, 'Walking the Straight and Narrow: Performative Sexuality and the First Amendment After Hurley' (1999) 8 Social and Legal Studies 25-45.
89. Hurley (n 84) 561.
90. Ibid 572-3.
91. Ibid 573.
92. I explore this point in detail in CF Stychin, 'Celebration and Consolidation: National Rituals and the Legal Construction of American Identities' (1998) 18 OJLS 265-91.
93. 530 US 640 (1999).
94. Ibid 648.
95. Ibid 653.
96. Ibid 654.
97. In dissent, Stevens J queried whether the Boy Scouts had a sufficiently clear message regarding sexual orientation in the first place and found 'no shared goal of disapproving of homosexuality'
98. ibid 684.
99. In light of this finding, the right to associate was not infringed since the application of the public accommodation law would not impose a serious burden. Dale's inclusion 'sends no cognizable message to the Scouts or to the world', unlike the facts in Hurley
100. ibid 694.
101. 547 US 47 (2006).
102. Ibid 51.
103. Ibid 64.
104. Ibid 60.
105. 44 Cal 4th 1145 (2008).
106. Ibid 1155.
107. Ibid 1158.
108. Ibid 1156.
109. Ibid 1157.
110. In a concurring judgment, Baxter J pondered in obiter dictum whether the result might be different in the case of a sole medical practitioner. In that scenario, the balancing of interests might lead to a different outcome: ibid 1159. It is clear that the judiciary's approach to exceptionality depends upon the anti-discrimination ground. For example, religious organizations cannot legally discriminate on the basis of race, which reflects the fundamental character of the governmental interest in eradicating racial discrimination, and the unacceptability of exceptions.
111. Bob Jones University v United States 461 US 574 (1982).
112. Dent (n 13) 631-2 [emphasis added].
113. Minow (n 65) 782.
114. Ibid 783.
115. B Ryder, 'State Neutrality and Freedom of Conscience and Religion' (2005) 29 S Ct L Rev (2d) 169-99, 173.
116. See also, M Sinclair, 'Freedom of Religion in Canada and France: Implications for Citizenship and Judgment' (2006) 15 Dalhousie JLS 39-68.
117. Berger (n 8) 279.
118. Fielding (n 9) 33-4.
119. Ryder (n 108) 173.
120. See KA Lahey, Are We Persons Yet: Law and Sexuality in Canada (University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1999).
121. Smith (n 5). The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the validity of same-sex marriage: Reference re Same-Sex Marriage [2004] 3 SCR 698 [finding no effect from the civil marriage legislation on religious marriage].
122. Syndicat Northcrest v Amselem [2004] 2 SCR 551 [1].
123. [2001] 1 SCR 772.
124. Ibid [2].
125. Ibid [3].
126. Ibid [14].
127. Ibid [11].
128. Ibid [25].
129. Ibid [32].
130. Ibid [36].
131. Ibid [83].
132. Ibid [72].
133. Ibid [82].
134. Ibid [86].
135. Ibid [106].
136. [2002] 4 SCR 710.
137. Ibid [3].
138. Ibid [19].
139. Ibid [27].
140. Ibid [60].
141. Ibid [61].
142. Ibid [117].
143. Ibid [118].
144. Ibid [126-127] [emphasis added].
145. See Stychin (n 83).
146. Chamberlain (n 128) [134].
147. Ibid [135].
148. Berger (n 8) 305-6.
149. See eg JE Halley, 'The Construction of Heterosexuality' in M Warner (ed), Fear of a Queer Planet: Queer Politics and Social Theory (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 1993) 82.
150. See eg C Gearty, 'Sex and the Secular Liberal' The Tablet (London 10 February 2007) 8.
151. See eg W Morgan, 'Queering International Human Rights Law' in C Stychin and D Herman (eds), Sexuality in the Legal Arena (Athlone, London 2000) 208.
152. Rivers (n 11) 51-2.
153. On the different forms of liberalism, see Fielding (n 9) 31.
154. On sexual citizenship, see eg D Bell and J Binnie, The Sexual Citizen: Queer Politics and Beyond (Polity, Cambridge 2000).
155. It will certainly 'require very careful interrogation of the competing claims'.
156. N Bamforth, 'Same-sex Partnerships: Some Comparative Constitutional Lessons' [2007] EHRLR 47-65, 65.
157. Fielding insightfully describes what is required as 'a contextual, fact-specific analysis': (n 9) 50. I am indebted to his framing of the question in this way.
158. Wintemute (n 34) 140.
159. J Webber, 'Understanding the Religion in Freedom of Religion' in P Cane, C Evans and Z Robinson (eds), Law and Religion in Theoretical and Historical Context (CUP, Cambridge 2008) 26, 26.
160. Rivers (n 11) 52.
161. See Fielding (n 9) 30.
162. M Malik, From Conflict to Cohesion: Competing Interests in Equality Law and Policy (Equality and Diversity Forum, London 2009) 43.
163. Nash (n 1) 337.
164. Ontario Human Rights Commission v Brockie (2002) 222 DLR (4th) 174 (HC).
165. Ibid [3].
166. Ibid [15].
167. Ibid [16].
168. Ibid [19].
169. Ibid [46].
170. Ibid [54].
171. Ibid [55].
172. Ibid [56] [emphasis added].
173. IT Benson, 'The Freedom of Conscience and Religion in Canada: Challenges and Opportunities' (2007) 21 Emory Intl L Rev 111-65, 149.
174. See McDougall (n 34).
175. Trotter (n 32).
176. McDougall (n 34) 357.
177. Trotter (n 32) 367.
178. Ryder (n 108) 191.
179. Trotter (n 32) 385.
180. Benson (n 164) 158.
181. See generally, Sandberg and Doe (n 3).
182. See generally, N Barker, 'Sex and the Civil Partnership Act: The Future of (Non) Conjugality?' (2006) 14 Feminist L S 241-59.
183. The decision was cited with approval in Re Christian Institute (n 45) [115]-[117]. As Martha Minow argues, 'the effort to balance competing principles itself should not be viewed as a departure from principle'.
184. M Minow, 'Is Pluralism an Ideal or a Compromise?: An Essay for Carol Weisbrod' (2008) 40 Connecticut L Rev 1287-313, 1300.
185. Fielding (n 9) 30.
186. See generally, M Davies, 'Pluralism in Law and Religion' in Cane, Evans and Robinson (n 150) 72.
187. Webber (n 150) 26.
188. Davies (n 175) 76.
189. Fielding (n 9) 31.
190. See Koppelman (n 28) 142: 'It is possible for gay people and conservative Christians to live together, each following their own deepest allegiances'.
191. Fielding (n 9) 45.
192. See Y Nehushtan, 'Secular and Religious Conscientious Exemptions: Between Tolerance and Equality' in Cane, Evans and Robinson, (n 150) 243, 248.
193. But see also, Bradney (n 6) 40, wherein accommodation is distinguished from tolerance.
194. J Nedelsky, 'Legislative Judgment and the Enlarged Mentality: Taking Religious-Perspectives' in R W Bauman and T Kahana (eds), The Least Examined Branch: The Role of Legislatures in the Constitutional State (CUP, Cambridge 2006) 93, 98.
195. See generally, H Arendt, Lectures on Kant's Political Philosophy (University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1982).
196. Ibid 101.
197. Ibid 105.
198. Ibid 106-107.
199. Ibid 108.
200. Ibid 107.
201. Minow (n 65) and (n 173).
202. Butler (n 35) 6.
203. CF Stychin, 'Family Friendly? Rights, Responsibilities and Relationship Recognition' in A Diduck and K O'Donovan (eds), Feminist Perspectives on Family Law (Routledge-Cavendish, Abingdon 2006) 21.
204. Minow (n 173) 1300-3.
205. J Conaghan and E Grabham, 'Sexuality and the Citizen Carer: The "Good Gay" and the Third Way' (2007) 58 NILQ 325-42.
206. G Bouchard and C Taylor, Building the Future: A Time for Reconciliation Abridged Report (Government of Quebec, Quebec 2008) 55. For an example of a Canadian case dealing with the clash between sexuality and religion, in which compromise and apology was emphasised, see Smith v Knights of Columbus (2005) 55 CHRR D/10 (BCHRT).
207. Nash (n 1) 336.