ReutersJose Lara, 34, Dean of Students & GSA Advisor, holds a sign which was part of the campaign for the first gender-neutral restroom in the Los Angeles school district at Santee Education Complex high school in Los Angeles, California, on April 18, 2016.
In the U.S. state of Massachusetts, even a sign in a church that says, "This Bathroom is for Biological Women Only" could subject the pastor of that church to up to 30 days in jail.
The warning came from the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) following the passage of a new anti-discrimination law that will take effect in the state this October.
"The law bootstraps the idea of gender identity onto existing Civil Rights laws," MFI President Andrew Beckwith told Charisma News.
He said under the new law, a sign in a church bathroom specifying that it is only for the use of biological women would be treated the same as if the sign had said "Whites Only."
The law does not specifically mention churches or houses of worship. However, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey pointed out that the places of public accommodation where the ban on sexual discrimination will be implemented include: "auditoriums, convention centers, lecture halls, houses of worship and other places of public gathering."
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Moreover, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the commission responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination law, stated that "even a church could be seen as a place of public accommodation if it holds a secular event, such as a spaghetti supper, that is open to the general public."
"All persons, regardless of gender identity, shall have the right to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of any place of public accommodation," the commission added.
The MFI seeks to repeal the law, warning that pastors and parishioners could find themselves in serious legal trouble once the new legislation takes effect.
Beckwith is urging churches to join their campaign to repeal the law.
"If the church doesn't defend itself from these attacks on religious liberty, they are going to cease having the ability to make the pastoral decisions they need to be able to make," he said.
