A glass gavel is seen in the office of judge Joaquim Barbosa during an interview with Reuters at the Supreme Court building in Brasilia November 19, 2012. REUTERS / Ueslei Marcelino
A glass gavel is seen in the office of judge Joaquim Barbosa during an interview with Reuters at the Supreme Court building in Brasilia November 19, 2012. Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino

A Christian university's plans to open a law school has been blocked by the British Columbia government because it is anti-gay. B.C. Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk had earlier consented to the application of Trinity Western University to open a law school, but had to revoke it because the Law Society of British Columbia had denied accreditation to potential graduates of the proposed law school.

The proposed law school got into the hot seat because of a school policy requiring students to sign a pledge to abstain from "sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman." The policy effectively targets gay students.

Emily Zmak, Communication Coordinator of Trinity Western University, in an email to IBT-AU, stressed that TWU is not anti-gay, nor is it "anti-anyone. The community covenant addresses behavioral expectations, and does not discriminate nor demean any person of any race, ethnicity, orientation, handicap, religion, etc."

The lawyers' society, as well as rights campaigners, said the pledge was discriminatory against gays and lesbians. The school maintained it was a community covenant. But while the denied accreditation will bar Trinity Western law school graduates from articling in Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society said it wouldn't stop them from practising law in British Columbia.

The Nova Scotia Barristers' Society stressed its non-accreditation stemmed from its charter. "While the charter does protect freedom of religion and association, it does not require the society to validate or support conduct that discriminates against others," it said.

About 3,600 students are reportedly in the waiting for the opening of the law school by Trinity Western, the largest independent Christian liberal arts institution in Canada. Both students and faculty of the proposed law school are required to sign the covenant.

Trinity Western's School of Law would have been the first private, faith-based law school in Canada, according to Metro News. It was scheduled to open in 2016. Law societies in New Brunswick, Alberta and Saskatchewan have voted to accredit the school. But those in Ontario and Nova Scotia don't want to recognise it, Metro News added.

Virk said the reversal of his earlier decision was based on the current uncertainty being flaunted by the regulatory bodies. Without their approval, prospective graduates may not be able to be called to the bar, or practise law, in British Columbia. "This is a significant change to the context in which I made my original decision."