Proposed Christian law school reconsiders sexual conduct restrictions after Canadian court ruling
Law societies denied accreditation to the program at Trinity Western University, an evangelical school in British Columbia, citing its community covenant as discriminating against LGBTQ applicants.
Efforts to open what would be Canada’s first private law school and first Christian law school hit an obstacle when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against its accreditation because of the school’s policy requiring students to sign a covenant prohibiting sexual intimacy outside of heterosexual marriage.
In twin cases, the law societies of Ontario and British Columbia argued that the five-page community covenant of Trinity Western University—which also applies to administrators, faculty, and staff—discriminates against LGBTQ applicants for admission. Canada’s highest court agreed with the law societies in a June ruling.
The majority wrote: “The [Law Society of British Columbia’s] decision prevents the risk of significant harm to LGBTQ people who feel they have no choice but to attend TWU’s proposed law school. These individuals would have to deny who they are for three years to receive a legal education.”
