Southern Baptist Convention clashes with city over ordinance

Southern Baptist Convention clashes with city over ordinance
Tags: Administration, Denominations
January 9, 2003

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A plan to add sexual orientation to Nashville's anti-discrimination ordinance for jobs and housing has the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) reconsidering staging its 2005 annual meeting in its hometown.

The convention, which has never been held in Nashville, typically draws 15,000 Southern Baptists and millions of dollars to the host site.

SBC vice president Bill Merrell told The Associated Press that the possibility of moving the convention was raised in a letter to a Nashville tourism official that said: "This alters the nature of Nashville as a convention city for us."

At 16 million strong, the SBC is the nation's largest Protestant denomination. About 150 employees of the convention's executive committee work in Nashville, along with nearly 1,500 employees of LifeWay Christian Resources, the denomination's publishing arm.

Baptists and other conservative religious leaders are fighting a proposed Nashville anti-discrimination ordinance that supporters say will ensure equal opportunity for housing and employment. The ordinance has passed two of three required city council readings, according to the AP.

Opponents claim the ordinance, in its presence form, would violate the U.S. Constitution by requiring religious groups who consider homosexuality a sin to hire gays and lesbians.

Councilman Chris Ferrell, the measure's lead sponsor, said he will add a religious exemption before the final vote Jan. 21.

"I'm not going to be in the position of telling anybody what their theology has to be," Ferrell said.

Merrell said Baptist leaders see the ordinance, even with the religious exemption, as "another attempt by pro-gay activists to secure the approval and affirmation of the broader culture of the homosexual lifestyle."

He said the ordinance could turn Nashville into "the San Francisco of the Southeast."

About 240 U.S. cities and counties have adopted anti-discrimination measures protecting gays, according to the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. Southern cities that have adopted the ordinances include Atlanta, Louisville, Ky., and Charleston, S.C.