Texas university no longer bucking ad for pro-life, Christian houseparents
ADF, allies convince University of Texas at San Antonio officials to post adoption agency’s job announcement
ADF attorney sound bites (6/1/11): Greg Baylor #1 | Greg Baylor #2 | Greg Baylor #3
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The University of Texas at San Antonio agreed Friday to permit a job posting seeking married, pro-life Christian houseparents after officials first refused the announcement on the grounds that it was “discriminatory.”
The Alliance Defense Fund, The Justice Foundation, and Liberty Institute persuaded university officials to change course and allow the posting from Adoption Priorities, a Christian organization that assists with adoptions and runs a residential facility serving expectant women in distress. The houseparents sought in the ad would work in that facility to help the women in residence there.
“Christian organizations shouldn’t be discriminated against for their beliefs and denied equal access to public university services that are available to everyone else,” said ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor. “UTSA did the right thing by allowing the announcement, but the larger battle isn’t over. More and more universities are excluding Christian organizations from their campuses and are thereby communicating the message that groups are free to use their facilities and services only if they don’t practice their religion.”
After UTSA refused to post Adoption Priorities’ employment notice with other job announcements at its career center, ADF and its allies sent a letter to school officials, urging them to allow the posting or face possible legal action. UTSA originally claimed that the announcement was rejected because its descriptions contained “discriminatory” position requirements, and that its policy excluded employers who “discriminate.”
ADF provided UTSA with information demonstrating that Adoption Priorities is a “religious employer” entitled to religious exemptions in federal and state anti-discrimination laws. ADF also formally notified UTSA that it would commence litigation if the announcement was not posted. UTSA then agreed to allow it to be posted.
“Religious employers preserve their religious character and advance their religious missions by hiring employees who share their beliefs,” Baylor explained. “Adoption Priorities wanted houseparents who would model Christian living, offer Christian guidance to women in crisis pregnancies, and, most of all, encourage them not to get abortions. An unmarried, non-Christian, pro-abortion couple simply could not do that job.”
Last November, ADF attorneys represented a Michigan woman who was reported to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights for posting an ad for a Christian roommate on her church’s bulletin board. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development immediately dismissed the complaint.
Related Resources
Letter from UTSA regarding Adoption Priorities
ABOUT Gregory S. Baylor
Gregory S. Baylor serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he is the director of the Center for Religious Schools and senior counsel with the Center for Public Policy. Since joining ADF in 2009, Baylor has focused on defending and advancing the religious freedom of faith-based educational institutions through advice, education, legislative and public advocacy, and representation in disputes. He has testified about religious liberty issues three times before congressional committees. Greg earned his Juris Doctor in 1990 from Duke University School of Law, where he graduated Order of the Coif, with high honors, and served on the editorial board of the Duke Law Journal. He received his bachelor’s degree in Honors English in 1987 from Dartmouth College. Following graduation from law school, he served as law clerk to the Hon. Jerry E. Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. He practiced labor and employment law at two large international law firms for three years before joining the staff of Christian Legal Society’s Center for Law and Religious Freedom, where he served for 15 years prior to joining ADF.