discrimination
‘Let Noor Run’ initiative aims to end discrimination in sports, starting with hijab bans
By Aysha Khan — January 22, 2020
(RNS) — A new effort by Noor Alexandria Abukaram, the high school junior who was disqualified from a cross-country meet because she ran a 5K while wearing her hijab, reminds the world that her case was no anomaly.
Survey: Faith groups maintain widespread support for LGBT protection laws
By Aysha Khan — March 12, 2019
(RNS) — A new report shows that strong majorities within all religious groups, including white evangelicals, support laws shielding LGBT people from discrimination.
Portland bans discrimination against atheists, other nonbelievers
By Tracy Simmons — March 4, 2019
(RNS) — Portland now bans discrimination against atheists, agnostics, and those who don't believe in "god or gods."
In Kenya, Pentecostal Christian moms tell husbands that girls are as good as boys
By Tonny Onyulo — November 16, 2018
BUNGOMA, Kenya (RNS) — Traditional culture here demands that women bear sons, but religious leaders say it's time for people to see that in God's eyes, both genders have equal worth.
In Nigeria, fears that a crackdown on Muslim group will court another Boko Haram
By Ali Abare Abubakar — September 24, 2018
ABUJA, Nigeria (RNS) — Muslims on the ground and experts in Washington worry that the detention of a Shiite cleric and the killings of his followers will provoke the Islamic Movement of Nigeria into waging war.
Judge: Jewish heritage can be basis for race discrimination
By Paul O'Donnell — July 17, 2018
(AP) — Jewish people are protected by a law against racial discrimination in employment decisions, a federal magistrate judge has concluded in siding with a football coach suing a private Baptist college in Louisiana.
The case for gender-segregated beaches
By Michele Chabin — June 29, 2018
(RNS) — News that New York City Councilman Chaim Deutsch has rented a city-owned Brooklyn beach for separate male and female swim days is creating excitement among devout Muslims and Orthodox Jews, but critics say the practice amounts to gender discrimination.
Invitations to Iftar
By Catherine Orsborn — June 1, 2018
(RNS) — When people gather for dinner in hundreds of homes, mosques, churches, synagogues and community centers across the country, it shows another way for our country.
Redefining religious freedom as religious privilege
By Andrew L. Seidel — April 23, 2018
(RNS) — The First Amendment Defense Act seeks to upend an enduring understanding of our rights.
‘Queer Disbelief’ pairs atheists and LGBTQ communities as allies
By Kimberly Winston — April 12, 2018
(RNS) — Queer activist and atheist Camille Beredjick calls for an alliance based on mutual goals of equality and acceptance.
When adoption agencies can turn away gay prospective parents, what happens to the kids?
By Bobby Ross Jr. — March 23, 2018
OKLAHOMA CITY (RNS) — Those who study the issue say it's hard to tell exactly how such rules governing adoption affect the numbers of children placed in 'forever' homes.
Christian ministry sues watchdog group over hate label
By Jay Reeves — August 25, 2017
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A Florida-based evangelical ministry has filed a religious discrimination lawsuit seeking an unspecified amount of money from a liberal watchdog group that called it a hate group because of its stance against LGBT rights.
Rev. Al Sharpton’s thousand-minister march gains steam after Charlottesville
By Adelle M. Banks — August 17, 2017
(RNS) — Footage from Charlottesville, Va., has prompted some clergy to sign up for an Aug. 28 march. 'This is much worse than we thought in terms of a spirit of hate and immorality,' Sharpton said.
No major US religious groups approve refusing service to gays
By Lauren Markoe — June 21, 2017
(RNS) White evangelical Protestants and Mormons showed the highest rates of approval for those who cite their religious belief as the basis for denying service to gays — but still less than a majority within those two groups hold this opinion.
This Vatican adviser is moving Catholics toward LGBT inclusion
By Jonathan Merritt — June 6, 2017
(RNS) James Martin says LGBT people are treated like lepers in the Catholic Church, and it's time for this to change.