Lawsuits challenge Virginia's sexual orientation protections

FALLS CHURCH — A conservative legal group has filed lawsuits challenging a new Virginia law that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The lawsuits filed this week in state and federal court by Alliance Defending Freedom argue that the new law infringes on their clients' religious freedoms.

In one case, a northern Virginia photographer filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Alexandria alleging that the law will compel him to photograph same-sex weddings in violation of his religious beliefs.

A second suit filed in Loudoun County Circuit Court says that the law will compel a nondenominational church to hire people who violate the church's beliefs against same-sex marriage and choosing a gender identity that differs from their biological sex.

Read more: https://roanoke.com/news/state-and-regional/lawsuits-challenge-virginias-sexual-orientation-protections/article_911b2df6-19d2-54b1-af1b-f885426323b2.html