The BC Court of Appeals has ruled in favour of Trinity Western University (TWU), deciding that graduates of the school will be able to get accreditation from the Law Society of BC and practice law in the province.
“[It] was exactly the decision we were looking for,” said Amy Robertson, the associate director of media and public relations at TWU. “For us, one of the great things about living in Canada is that we have the freedom to believe in God or not, we have the freedom to follow our consciences, and we have the freedom to disagree and to deviate from what’s popular. And that’s something that we want to protect for everybody.”
The case stems from the BC Law Society’s decision to not allow TWU students to gain accreditation due to the school’s community covenant, which it describes as discriminatory to LGBTQ students. The community covenant includes a condition prohibiting TWU students from having sex — which they define as between a man and a women — outside of marriage.
TWU has said that while students do have to abide by the covenant, they still consider themselves as a welcoming place for these individuals.
“Students who want to abide by the covenant come to Trinity Western, and some of those students are from the LGBTQ community,” said Amy Robertson, the associate director of media and public relations at TWU. “From what I’ve heard from the community, by and large, it’s a safe welcoming place for them to be.”
However, Margot Young, a professor at UBC's Allard School of Law, disagrees and finds the court's decision “concerning.”
“It's distressing really. Its a concern because the court of appeal gave little substantive content to the harm that LGBTQ individuals experience by being effectively denied access to law schools ... because of the community covenant,” she said.
According to Young, the court's decision fails to understand the harm of being denied access to legal education on the basis of sexual orientation, restricting the options that LGBTQ students have.
“In balancing the religious rights of the TWU community and the equality rights for the LGBTQ+ person, the court of appeal came to the conclusion that there was severe infringement of TWU community members ... and only minimal infringement of equality rights of the LGBTQ person,” said Young.
The Law Society of BC released a statement saying that they “will be reviewing the decision and considering next steps.”