“Governor
Christie (R-NJ) is no friend of free speech,” said Brad Dacus, president of
Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) in response to the Governor's decision to sign
a bill outlawing therapy for minors seeing professional help for unwanted
same-sex-attraction.
PJI filed the first of two lawsuits against a nearly identical bill in
California. PJI obtained a preliminary injunction in December 2012, and the law
is currently on hold because of the serious free speech and religious freedom
restrictions it imposes.
Dacus, a frequent guest on Faith on Trail, also noted that in addition to free
speech and religious freedom issues, one of the major flaws of this bill is
that—like the California one—it is based on LGBT activist pressure and not
scientific outcomes. “The question here isn't if sexuality comes from birth or
not; the question is 'Should we allow the government to restrict religious and
constitutional freedoms because a forceful LGBT lobby says we should?' The
answer to that question is a resounding 'No!'”
This is not the first time that Gov. Christie has drawn the ire of religious
freedom advocates. In 2011 PJI criticized Gov. Christie for siding with LGBT
activists over free speech concerns. Gov. Christie suggested a teacher should
be fired for posts on her personal Facebook page that were deemed unsupportive
of LGBT history month.
Legal challenges to the new bill are likely. If the California litigation is
any indication, it could be bottled up in court for months to come, delaying
implementation.
No comments:
Post a Comment