"Religious schools like The Lyceum have the freedom to operate consistently with their faith without fear of unjust government punishment-and we're glad South Euclid now affirms this reality," said Holcomb.
Keith Ari Benjamin, director of South Euclid Community Services director, helped draft the law. He criticized the legal group representing the school.
He charged that Alliance Defending Freedom "has spent the last month working to divide our community and spread falsehoods and hate."
The dropping of the lawsuit is "a victory for our community, our residents, the LGBT community and all those working to stop the spread of hate and all discrimination across our nation," he said, claiming that the dropping of the lawsuit shows that the ordinance is legal and "that their own allegations don't make out a claim," according to Cleveland.com.
Holcomb, the attorney, said the case was about constitutional protections.
"We're hopeful that other cities avoid such an unforced error and remain mindful that the First Amendment protects religious schools from government hostility, targeting, and discrimination," she said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio represented the city. It opposed an injunction against the law on the grounds that the private school is not considered a place of public accommodation. According to the ACLU affiliate, the school's hiring practices were exempt.
Gwen Stembridge, Northeast Ohio coordinator for the LGBT advocacy group Equality Ohio, an ordinance supporter, said in April 2018 that Christian entities are still protected in all hiring matters and language regarding moral conduct codes can be legally part of an employee contract before he or she is hired.
The national ACLU and several state affiliates are campaigning against religious freedom protections in several areas such as abortion rights and legal compliance with LGBT demands.
These protections benefit many Catholic organizations at present, but in some states organizations like Catholic adoption agencies have been forced to close because of requirements that they place children with same-sex couples. In California, the ACLU is suing a network of five Catholic hospitals after one hospital refused to perform a hysterectomy on a self-identified transgender man.
The proposed federal Equality Act would recognize sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories of civil rights and strip religious freedom protections from anti-discrimination lawsuits. On May 17 the legislation passed the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives for the first time by a vote of 236-173, split largely along party lines. The bill now goes to the Republican-controlled Senate.
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