California’s Anti-Discrimination Laws Under Fire for Hurting the Poor

Since the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) forbids religious groups from obtaining public financing, a church, and its affiliated preschool have filed a federal lawsuit in a California district court. Since the church adheres to traditional theological ideas on human sexuality, feeding children in need at preschool is not permitted.

This circumstance not only exposes the absurdity of SOGI laws that purport to be inclusive but also shows how they are used to oppress individuals who hold traditional views. Rather than promoting equality for all Californians, SOGI regulations are used by religious-based groups as a means of coercing them into obedience.

Since more than 20 years ago, The Church of Compassion and its preschool Dayspring Christian Learning Center in Southern California have worked together to serve their neighbors’ needs.

Church Preschool Loses State Funding Over LGBTQ+ Mandate

The Child and Adult Care Feeding Program, which is sponsored by the state, is one of the ways they’ve been accomplishing it. There are many immigrants living in El Cajon. 40% of preschoolers get financial aid for their tuition since their families are below the poverty line. So, the program plays a crucial role in the lives of these families.

All families and children are served by the Dayspring Preschool, including some LGBT families. Nevertheless, the California Department of Social Services mandated that beginning in 2022, anybody getting funding via the state’s food program must also abide by new rules.

This entails completing updated Civil Rights Compliance documentation that now includes gender identity and sexual orientation as forms of discrimination. The church and preschool could not, in good faith, sign the papers because of their orthodox views on sexuality. The church asked for a change.

Due to this unwillingness to sign the anti-discrimination paperwork, which the church saw as a betrayal of their principles, and the fact that they compel personnel to read a handbook that forbids Homosexual lifestyles, the California Department of Social Services finally cut off funding as a result.

“Our Preschool serves all families, but we do not want the government to force us to replace our core values and the essential beliefs of our Christian faith or make us agree to adopt and express the state’s contrary beliefs,” said Kelly Wade, Dayspring’s principal, in a statement. Part of the complaint reads:

“By implementing the CDSS’ new inflexible mandates, the State of California brazenly attempts to coercively force the Church and Preschool to completely surrender and waive their sincerely held orthodox Christian religious beliefs and practices regarding human sexuality. This is achieved by the government’s unconditional demand that the Church and Preschool agree to fully comply with the new ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ mandates… or forfeit their right to continue to receive generally available public funds used to feed needy children, including immigrants, in their community.”

Anti-discrimination laws are created to guarantee that those who are marginalized in society get equal treatment under the law. As is their constitutional right, these laws shouldn’t be utilized to attack religious individuals who have held the same sexual morality for generations.

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