Your gift counts double until 5/31: $23,213 to go in our Easter Campaign. Please help now!

Over diocese’s objections, Phoenix revises ‘human relations ordinance’

CWN - March 12, 2013

In a 5-3 vote, the Phoenix City Council has amended its human-relations ordinance to forbid places of public accommodation “to directly or indirectly display, circulate, publicize or mail any advertisement, notice or communication which states or implies” that anyone “would be unwelcome, objectionable, unacceptable, [or] undesirable” on the basis of “sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.”

The amended ordinance also prohibits discrimination in employment and housing on the same basis.

“As written, the proposed ordinance could be interpreted as forcing people to actively endorse, support and promote actions and behaviors that violate their own personal, deeply held religious beliefs,” the diocese said in a statement.

“By failing to provide a clear means by which individuals may, in good conscience and without malice, practice their faith and live their values without fear of prosecution and punishment, the proposed ‘non-discrimination’ ordinance actually could be used as a means to codify and mandate unjust discrimination against people of faith.”

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($23,213 to go):
$80,000.00 $56,787.50
29% 71%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

Fr. Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly: Your Letter May Help 3 hours ago
The Rise and Fall of the (American?) Church 22 hours ago
The Ideal of Pope Francis: the Servant Church May 23
The sad decline of self-government May 22
That impromptu exorcism again May 22

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8