Supreme Court ruling on LGBTQ discrimination points to faith leaders' divide over gay rights

Growing up in the Orthodox Jewish community, Daniel Atwood never had a Jewish LGBTQ person he could look up to. He long-awaited the moment he would be ordained as a rabbi.

But after completing his schooling at New York’s Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in 2019, Atwood was denied ordination once the school discovered he was engaged to a man. Months later in Jerusalem, Atwood was ordained as the world's first openly gay Orthodox rabbi.

“In a lot of communities, queer people are seen as, ‘it’s OK to be here but, it’s not the ideal way to live,’” Atwood said. “It’s seen as a personal challenge, something I should be struggling with, something I should be sad about. However, that’s not my approach to life.” 

Atwood is among many progressive faith leaders who celebrated the Supreme Court's historic ruling last week outlawing discrimination against LGBTQ people in the workplace. But other religious leaders who oppose LGBTQ rights questioned the decision, particularly as to whether it applies to religious institutions that are often protected by First Amendment freedom of speech rights. The division is unfolding as more religious Americans have become supportive of LGBTQ rights, even as their faith leaders denounce such changes. 

The court's decision prohibits employers from firing someone because of their sexual orientation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Franklin Graham, leader of the Samaritan Purse, an influential evangelical relief group, and an evangelist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said the ruling may infringe on the rights of religious groups who oppose LGBTQ rights.

“It’s more than just protecting gay people,” Graham said of the ruling. “I don’t think gay people should be discriminated against, but at the same time, Christians shouldn’t be discriminated against either. We should have the freedom to exercise our faith and belief and be able to share what we believe.” 

Many conservatives Christians believe God made man and woman to be together and that LGBTQ sex is a sin, Graham said. He urged Christians to pray about their beliefs and contact lawmakers about their opposition to the Supreme Court decision. 

In the ruling, Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative who was nominated to the court by President Donald Trump, wrote that exactly how the decision will affect religious liberty "are questions for future cases." Under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, the government is prohibited from “substantially burdening a person’s exercise of religion."

The Supreme Court is expected to look further into LGBTQ rights and religious liberty protections during its next term, which begins in October. Earlier this year, the court agreed to hear Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, which centers on whether faith-based child welfare organizations can reject LGBTQ families and others seen as acting against their religious beliefs. 

The court's recent record on LGBTQ has been mixed, with a majority of justices ruling in 2015 that all states must recognize and grant same-sex marriages. In 2019, however, a majority ruled that the Trump administration could block most transgender people from serving in the military while lower courts reviewed cases challenging the policy. Six of the Supreme Court Justices are Catholic and the other three are Jewish.

In his dissent in the workplace discrimination case, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito warned that the ruling "will threaten freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and personal privacy and safety."

Many religious groups in the U.S. have long opposed LGBTQ civil rights, but as political beliefs have evolved and gay Americans have fought for the right to be their true selves, many people of faith have shifted their opinions.  

In 2014, 62% of Americans said LGBTQ Americans should be accepted, up from 50% of Americans who said the same in 2007, according to the Pew Research Center. 

Among religious Americans, 81% of Jewish people and 70% of Catholics said LGBTQ people should be accepted. Meanwhile, 53% of evangelical Protestants surveyed in the poll said LGBTQ rights should be discouraged.  

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ president and archbishop, José Horacio Gómez, released a statement last week saying he was deeply concerned about the Supreme Court’s decision to redefine the legal meaning of “sex,” calling it an injustice that will have implications in all aspects of American life. 

"By erasing the beautiful differences and complementary relationship between man and woman, we ignore the glory of God’s creation and harm the human family, the first building block of society," he said, adding, "Protecting our neighbors from unjust discrimination does not require redefining human nature."

Religious higher education institutions, including the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, Catholic University of America and Brigham Young University in Utah, submitted an amicus brief in the case arguing that expanding civil rights protections to include discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity "would negatively impact faith-based institutions of higher education in significant and far-reaching ways.” 

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said the ruling "will have seismic implications for religious liberty, setting off potentially years of lawsuits and court struggles, about what this means, for example, for religious organizations with religious convictions about the meaning of sex and sexuality." 

Other religious leaders praised the ruling. 

The Most Rev. George Lucey, presiding bishop at the American National Catholic Church, an independent institution founded by former Catholic members, said Christianity preaches love for one's neighbor, and therefore discrimination against LGBTQ Americans should not be tolerated. 

“I don't think God cares about who we love,” Lucey said. “I think God just cares that we love everyone."

The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings of the national Episcopal Church, which signed a friend of the court brief along with more than 720 interfaith leaders supporting the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case, celebrated the ruling in a Facebook post. 

“As Christians, we bear a particular responsibility to speak out, because attempts to deny LGBTQ people their dignity and humanity as children of God are too often made in the name of God,” Jennings said. “This way of fear is not the way of Jesus Christ, who teaches us to cast out fear.”

Danya Ruttenberg, a writer who serves as a rabbi and educator at Tufts and Northwestern universities in Massachusetts, said this is just the beginning of change. She said there must be provisions to stop homophobia, transphobia, and bigotry from occurring in religious communities. 

"I'm grateful that this ruling offers more workplace protection to human beings who are created in the divine image," Ruttenberg said. "But it is not absolute protection. It would be so easy to say that someone doesn't fit in the work culture."

Atwood, the Orthodox rabbi, said he was glad LGBTQ people are now protected in the workplace.

"No one has to do anything that they don't want," Atwood said. "But in the United States of America, which supports civil rights, if you're open for business, then you got to be open to everyone."