An American Christian dating website, allowing only heterosexual individuals to search for potential relationships, was sued in late June after a same-sex couple claimed that they were discriminated against.
ChristianMingle.com, owned by Spark Network Inc., agreed to pay $450,000 (£340,780) and change its website to accommodate users looking for same-sex relationships, despite not accepting that the organisation had done anything wrong.
Man or woman?
The complaint arose because the website asked users to define themselves either as ‘a man seeking a woman’, or vice versa.
A male same-sex couple who tried to use the site in 2013 claimed that the limited options violated California’s anti-discrimination laws, which requires businesses to offer full accommodations regardless of a person’s sexual orientation.
Michael Egan, CEO of Spark Networks, said: ‘Like all other companies, we must abide by the laws that govern our state and nation.’
However, one of Spark Network’s advisors, Pastor Clayton Coates, has stepped down following the settlement decision, as it does not fit with his biblical understanding of marriage.
Advocates for traditional marriage consider the outcome an infringement on religious liberty and another example of pressure on those opposed to same-sex marriage.
Commenting on the result, Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of Christian Concern, said: ‘This is capitulation to the new prevailing political orthodoxy. What the state is seeking to do here is to impose something that runs completely against the conscience and ethos of that Christian dating agency. We’re already seeing this happen here in the United Kingdom, perhaps not with regard to the dating agency, but people that believe in marriage between a man and woman, people that believe children need a mother and father, find themselves in trouble with the law.’
She added: ‘Our identity is in Jesus Christ. And when our identity is found in Jesus, what we want to do is to follow him. We want to be obedient to him.’
