Last week the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ voluntarily dismissed a lawsuit against the state and the city of Des Moines over language in a brochure that they interpreted as interpreted as requiring churches to accommodate transgender bathroom access.
The law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, but the Iowa Civil Rights Commission indicated that churches are generally exempt. The church requested that the court issue an injunction from applying general antidiscrimination laws to churches claiming that such enforcement would violate their rights to free exercise of religion.
For more information on the history of the lawsuit, see ReligiousLiberty.TV – “Church sues Iowa for hypothetical gender ‘law'” (July 7, 2016)
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