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Federal Appeals Court to Hear Gay Case Involving Publicly Funded Religious Group
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

(November 22, Louisville, KY) In a closely watched case that highlights the dangers posed by President Bush's proposed "faith-based initiative," the American Civil Liberties Union has appealed part of a lawsuit filed on behalf of a lesbian who was fired by Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children, which receives most of its funding from the state.

Earlier this year, a federal judge said the Baptist agency's funding relationship with the state may be an unconstitutional intertwining of church and state but dismissed all of the claims related to Pedreira's employment. This week, the ACLU filed papers with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit appealing the constitutional employment claims before the case is tried.

"Alicia Pedreira was fired because this agency thought that a lesbian can't carry out its religious mission," said Ken Choe, the ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights Project attorney handling the case. "When taxpayers are footing the bill, that's unconstitutional."

Pedreira was a therapist at Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children but was fired when the agency found out she is a lesbian. On the same day she was fired, the agency enacted a written policy that homosexuality is "inconsistent" with its religious values, and thus lesbians and gay men are ineligible for employment.

The state's funding of the agency closely mirrors the kind of funding schemes President Bush has proposed expanding nationally to funnel public money to religious groups for social services without requiring adequate safeguards against discrimination in employment or services. The House passed most of the White House plan last summer, but it has not been scheduled for a Senate vote.

"Just today, President Bush went to a soup kitchen to urge Congress to give final approval to his plans for government-funded religion before Christmas," said Terri Schroeder, an ACLU Legislative Representative. "But we remain confident that the Senate will refuse to adopt the House-passed bill as long as it remains a faith-based prescription for discrimination."

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