There was disappointment on the Langley, B.C. campus of Trinity Western University Friday in the wake of a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that struck a major blow against the proposed law school it's been eyeing for years.
In a 7-2 decision, the court ruled provincial law societies can refuse accreditation to TWU graduates over concerns about the university's controversial community covenant, which bars students from having sex outside of specifically heterosexual marriage.
"We are disappointed that the Supreme Court has decided that diversity in Canada does not have room for a small law school at a Christian university," said Earl Phillips, executive director of TWU law.
The ruling puts Trinity Western at a crossroads; without altering its covenant, it’s unlikely the university would be able to open the school. B.C.’s Advanced Education Ministry revoked its approval in 2014 pending the outcome of the legal battle.
Asked whether the university might consider updating the pledge, which opponents call discriminatory, Phillips would only say finding the way forward will require a lot of soul searching.
"That is something we need to spend a lot of time and reflecting on as a community," Phillips said.
"We need to analyze the decision, reflect on that, and reflect carefully on everything that has happened in this process.”
The high court's decision highlights the complications of balancing religious rights and equality rights when they clash with one another. While Trinity Western considers its covenant a core expression of students' shared evangelical beliefs, LGBTQ advocates fear the damaging pressure it could put on gay students to hide their identity.
"These individuals would have to deny who they are for three years to receive a legal education. Being required by someone else’s religious beliefs to behave contrary to one’s sexual identity is degrading and disrespectful," the ruling reads.
Matthew Wigmore, a theatre major who came out during his second year at TWU, knows that pain well. Wigmore, who graduated in 2016, said he received a quality education at the university, but that the covenant affected him and some of his friends deeply.
"I also experienced depression. Other people had to take time off at Trinity because of the mental health implications of how you're out of place and how that plays with your mind," Wigmore told CTV News.
Ultimately, the Supreme Court found the Law Society of B.C.'s decision not to recognize TWU law graduates was fair, and "did not limit religious freedom to a significant extent" because the university is free to change its approach to the pledge.
"A mandatory covenant is not absolutely required to study law in a Christian environment in which people follow certain religious rules of conduct," the decision reads.
It also noted that the law society previously asked Trinity Western to consider amendments to the pledge, and that the university "expressed no willingness to compromise."
Osmel Guerra Maynes, executive director of Qmunity, a Vancouver LGBTQ advocacy group, said he was ecstatic to learn of the court’s decision. He told CTV News it’s ironic that TWU decried the ruling as an affront to diversity because he sees it as protecting diversity within the student body.
"It's important because we are here. We are living our truth," he said. "I know many people who are religious and are part of the LGBTQ community."
The covenant covers a number of other aspects of student life at TWU, stressing patience, self-control, humility, peacemaking and mercy, among other values.
And beyond barring gay sex even within the confines of marriage, it prohibits students from viewing pornography, drinking on campus, and using language that is either vulgar or prejudice. language.
It also bans "communication that is destructive to TWU community life and inter-person relationships, including gossip, slander … and prejudice."
With files from CTV Vancouver's Nafeea Karim
