Gay group sues Utrecht church for rent refusal

The College on the Rights of People decided that the Evangelical Church in Utrecht is not allow to refuse gay people who want to rent their venue. This decision was made in a case brought before them by the work group Jong&Out. Last year the work group tried to rent a room of the church on Booth street in Utrecht. Although the members of the work group were kindly received and shown around by the landlord, the church council (owner of the room) later object to the fact that gay youth would be using the room. The College declared that the church is not allowed to refuse gay youth as the church halls are rented out to everyone and not just used as a religious venue. For this reason religious freedom cannot be claimed. In the Reformatorisch Dagblad advocate Bouter of the church council said that he is very disappointed with the verdict. He feels that the judgement "should lead to reflection" and not just in the Evangelical Church of Utrecht, RTV Utrecht reports.