The B.C. government approved a proposed faith-based law school Dec. 18, 2013 at Trinity Western University (TWU) which would ban students from having homosexual relations.
TWU, a private Christian university in Langley, B.C., originally submitted its proposal to the Federation of Law Societies of Canada (FLSC) in June 2012.
Critics had cited TWU’s “community covenant,” which every student and faculty member must sign. The covenant requires students and faculty to abstain from engaging in homosexual activity, since “sexual intimacy is reserved for marriage between one man and one woman.”
It also prohibits students from gossiping, lying, drinking alcohol, and smoking cigarettes on campus. The university “reserves the right to discipline, dismiss or refuse a student’s re-admission” if the agreement is broken.
B.C. Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk said in a statement that a review by the FLSC determined that graduates of the program could meet the national standards to practise law. Following approval of the law school, the university will start accepting law students in 2016.
The FLSC Approval Committee said it had a limited mandate. Its task was to determine whether the university would be capable of producing graduates competent enough for admission to law society bar admission programs and did not factor in the university’s faith-based ideologies, according to FLSC council president Marie-Claude Bélanger-Richard.
TWU president Bob Kuhn said TWU is an accepting school.
“It needs to be said that all students (gay or straight) are welcome to attend Trinity Western University, providing they meet our academic requirements and agree to respect our community values,” he said in a statement.
Syrine Cheffi is a Carleton University student who had considered studying at TWU, but has since changed her mind.
“I am feeling insulted because I don’t think a university has the right to tell anyone how to love or form relationships,” Cheffi said. “Gay people are humans too and deserve the same kind of education as straight students.”
