Sep 10
23
CBC News – September 20, 2010
Gay couple awarded $13.4K for rental refusal
Landlord feared God’s wrath if he rented apartment to gay people
A gay couple in Yellowknife have been awarded $13,400 in compensation because a landlord would not rent them an apartment on the basis of their sexual orientation. n a written decision issued this month, Northwest Territories human-rights adjudicator James Posynick ruled that William Goertzen did not give a justifiable reason for refusing Scott Robertson and Richard Anthony when they tried to rent the main floor of his Yellowknife house in May 2009. Robertson and Anthony told the panel they had signed a one-year lease and paid a $1,125 damage deposit for the unit, but the property owner refused to recognize the lease after learning they were a couple.
Goertzen, a journeyman lineman who attends a local Baptist church, said he instead put the rental back on the market because he feared he would suffer “‘undue hardship’ by punishment administered by God” if he allowed gay people to live in his building, according to the decision. Goertzen said he believed “that same-sex relationships are ‘unnatural and against nature’ and ‘the Bible warns against being associated with such wickedness,” the decision states in part.
Posynick ruled that while he did not believe Goertzen had acted maliciously against the couple, he “certainly intended to discriminate” against them. “He wilfully and with disregard for their legal rights, including their rights under … a valid tenancy agreement, for reasons relating to the sexual orientation of the complainants, denied their tenancy and the respect and dignity they are entitled to as fellow human beings,” Posynick wrote in the decision.
Robertson and Anthony said they had to stay with friends for 10 days before they could find another apartment. As well, they had to take Goertzen to rental court to get their damage deposit back.
Religious freedom ‘not unlimited’
“I don’t know how more clear the discrimination could be, and I guess that’s why it’s so shocking for us,” Robertson told Posynick during a hearing in June.
At the same hearing, Goertzen read Bible passages as he attempted to justify not honouring the lease with Robertson and Anthony. He argued his religious beliefs are protected by Canadian law.
“I’d have to ask where are my rights … why can I not stand on my beliefs and what I believe in?” Goertzen told CBC News in July. “They might think it’s discrimination against them, but I’m losing my beliefs and there’s definitely my religious convictions.”
But in his decision, Posynick said the right to religious freedom “is not unlimited” and Goertzen cannot justify evicting the couple on the basis that he was “following God’s word.” “Mr. Goertzen made his own choices,” Posynick wrote. “I heard no evidence that God’s word included ignoring his legal obligations to treat other people – even people with different beliefs and different lifestyle choices than his own – with respect.”
Posynick ordered Goertzen to pay $6,500 each to Robertson and Anthony, $5,000 of which compensates for injury to the men’s “dignity, feelings and self-respect.” The remaining $1,500 are punitive damages. Goertzen is also ordered to pay $400 to Robertson for wages he claimed to have lost while dealing with the human-rights complaint.
It seems that Mr. Goertzen, while professing to be a Christian, failed to take a clear stand on the Word of God. The Bible is clear that sodomy is an abomination against God (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13). For the nation of Israel, the law was to put such people to death. The judge in this case made reference to Mr. Goertzen discriminating against these sodomites. Certainly God points out that this chosen lifestyle is wickedness in His sight. Since that is so, the born again Christian must also stand against this wickedness. It is important for born again Christians to make it clear that our authority comes from God. It is important for judges and others to understand that the God of the Bible is the judge of all the earth. If wickedness is condoned and promoted, those guilty of this will certainly face His wrath. In fact as a society, we are already facing His wrath with the HIV/AIDS that these people are contracting. We as a society are paying for this through our tax dollars.
I hope we (those who are truly born again Christians) can learn from this account to be more straightforward in our defence of our actions. Mr. Goertzen would be wise to spend his time in jail, rather than paying the alloted money to these two wicked men. Our love for others needs to be real. To give them money would just assist them in their wickedness.
Certainly the judge in this case demonstrated great disregard for the God of the Bible. He will certainly be answerable for that as well.
Respectfully submitted,
Pastor Walter Bartel
Hi Walter
You claim Goertzen and other Christians should take a stand. Does this include taking the damage deposit and the rent , then tearing up the contract, refusing them entry to the apartment, and not returning the damage deposit and the rent? Goertzen had no moral issue with keeping their money.
What an interesting take on morality and religious expression.