by Kerby Anderson

One pastor in Iowa has accused the government of “meddling in religious affairs.” Pastor Cary Gordon is concerned that the Iowa Civil Rights Commission brochure on sexual orientation and gender identity defines churches as public accommodations. Thus, all the sexual orientation anti-discrimination laws may apply to his church and any other church.

The brochure has a section titled, “Does this law apply to churches?” The answer that it gives is: “sometimes.” It goes on to explain that churches are only exempt if the qualifications “are related to bona fide religious purpose. Where qualifications are not related to a bona fide religious purpose, churches are still subject to the law’s provisions (e.g., a child care facility operated at a church or a church service open to the public).”

If you think about it, that last sentence opens the door since it describes most of the events a church might hold. The current interpretation would prohibit saying anything in church that would make a person of a particular gender identity uncomfortable.

Pastor Gordon believes the statements in the brochure show a “flagrant disrespect for the First Amendment of the Constitution.” He also adds that: “It’s fundamentally wrong, and I can’t comply with that.”

First Liberty Institute is representing the pastor and his church. The law firm fired off a demand letter to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission calling for them to amend its published policy to clarify that it will not apply Iowa Code 216 against churches. In response to the letter the commission decided to revise the document to clarify that churches are exempt.

All of this brings to mind the famous line by Martin Neirmöller. Few pastors have been willing to defend bakers, florists, and photographers. I guess you could put it this way. First they came for the bakers, then they came for the pastors.