Lawyers vote to tell B.C. law society benchers not to endorse Trinity Western University's law school

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      By a huge majority, lawers at a special general meeting passed a resolution repudiating the Law Society of B.C.'s accreditation of a law school at a Christian postsecondary institution in the Fraser Valley.

      With 3,210 in favour and 968 opposed, the lawyers voted to instruct the law society's benchers (governors) to declare that Trinity Western University's law school is not approved for admission into the society.

      The lawyers' resolution is not binding.

      In April, the benchers voted to allow the university's law-school graduates to enter the society's admissions program.

      Trinity Western University has come under fire from many lawyers because its students and faculty are required to sign a covenant against sex outside of marriage between a man and woman.

      It means that students must agree not to engage in same-sex relations.

      In a news release issued after the vote, the West Coast Women's Legal Education and Action Fund stated that the university's student handbook "also explicitly demands that students refrain from practices contrary to biblical teachings".

      “Freedom of religion protects a person’s right to hold whatever tenets of their faith they wish, including the belief that homosexuality and abortion are sins. However, it does not protect a person’s right to create a law school that excludes and punishes students on that basis,” LEAF's legal director, Laura Track, said in the news release.

      Comments

      8 Comments

      Arthur Vandelay

      Jun 11, 2014 at 9:48am

      If this logic applies to law school, shouldn't it apply to the university in general?

      Why should people be denied access to anything based on their sexual preferences? Why does this "university" have any accreditation at all?

      Sifu P.Belugi

      Jun 11, 2014 at 10:47am

      "However, it does not protect a person’s right to create a law school that excludes and punishes students on that basis,” LEAF's legal director, Laura Track, said in the news release."

      Hmm. Sounds like something's a bit fishy.. like at least something's been left out here & there. Looks like we should have a look at these actual documents and sources ourselves [covenant, LEAF a.k.a. WEST COAST WOMEN'S Legal Education and Action Fund, etc.]

      Have these people, these reporters and lawyers actually read the university's covenant in a wholistic manner, in its entirety? Or are they cherry-picking what they want with one or more eyes closed?

      I have just briefly checked TWU's website and the covenant and FAQ's and there is nothing that supports the inflammatory non sequitur statement put out by the "Women's" lobbyists, nothing that supports the lobbyist's misleading assertions that the policy " excludes and punishes students on that basis,”

      Nor is there anything that requires "... Women ... to give up the rights to control their own bodies and make their own reproductive choices in order to access a place in a law school.”

      In fact I know at least a few LGBTQ+ friends who have attended the university, so they certainly have not been excluded and punished, contrary to the vitriol that the Women's lobbyists have just tried to dish out.
      So the Women's lobbyists are being less than forthright in their inflammatory and insensitive pubic-centred statement.

      A head scratcher for sure.. Looks like some Women's rights folks want to start a few fires for some reason. Sometimes when business is slow, some people start fires so that they can generate more work for themselves. So many red flags here in this news article. So many things made up or missing, thus presenting a distorted picture of the actual situation. So sad. I will certainly have more of a look a these sources when I have more time.

      A small example: [The facts instead ]

      Q: 'Still, aren’t your Christian values biased against the gay community?'

      A: 'The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that there was “not a shred of evidence” to suggest any bias on the part of Trinity-educated teachers towards gay students (in the decision to allow our Teacher Certification Program).'

      Sifu P.Belugi

      Jun 11, 2014 at 11:04am

      "If this logic applies to law school, shouldn't it apply to the university in general?"

      The only thing is the this looks like it's really manufactured "logic": a straw-man argument cooked up because there's not enough fires and not enough jobs. In other words, an urban legend, amigos.

      This 'logic' is like saying People are "excluding and punishing" the Animal Kingdom ... by pissing in their drinking water.
      So are they really? .. or is it really just an inflammatory statement to get pets and animal lovers [like me] upset?

      [Hint: the missing information: the so-called drinking water is in the bathroom toilet bowl, often re-defined by our four-legged friends as their drinking-bowl]

      DJH

      Jun 11, 2014 at 11:18am

      "Why should people be denied access to anything based on their sexual preferences? "

      There are actually gay people who attend or have attended TWU, so have they been denied access to anything based on their sexual preferences?

      Please get your facts straight before making incendiary false statements that demonizes TWU and others. Perhaps you want to mislead the public and start a posse against them?

      Sifu P.Belugi

      Jun 11, 2014 at 11:23am

      GeoStraight: do you censure arbitrarily? Because it's been a while and my questions & comments have not shown up yet, while Arthur Vandelay's has at 9:48 AM.

      Marga

      Jun 11, 2014 at 1:36pm

      I struggle with this issue even though I am a supporter of West Coast LEAF. It's seems to me the difficulty is that this is a private school whose beliefs and mores also deserve protection but they are accrediting on legal issues which require acceptance of the very things they are forbidding in the school environment. I would be very curious to know how they teach about women's and LGBT rights. Also, there are other options for students who do not agree with their policies to choose from, so I wonder if they may still have a point about being able to ask for a certain kind of behaviour in a private school.

      Mary

      Jun 11, 2014 at 4:39pm

      Since they demand that students refrain from any practices which are contrary to biblical teachings, presumably TWU students cannot eat shellfish or pork?

      Lawyers are Scum

      Jun 11, 2014 at 4:51pm

      Lawyers hate competition---nothing more than skeevy little mobsters, and this proves it. The idea that a law school should have to be "accredited" is nonsense. Want to be a lawyer? Write a yearly public exam. Oh, wait, that would be too easy! What we really need is a bunch of fraternities that make the freemasons look open and honest who act as gatekeepers to the profession! I am very worried that my lawyer won't be a politically correct canadian multiculturalist socialist! Thank goodness we have the legal profession to protect us from ourselves!