Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

December 2019 – In early September, Duke University’s Student Government Senate recorded a unanimous vote to deny Young Life (YL) status as a student group on campus. YL is a Christian group that adheres to biblical standards on sexuality. Because YL prohibits LGBTQ persons from leading the group, it will not be allowed to meet on campus.

Conversely, in other business, the senate voted unanimously to grant the Sikh Society official status. The website sikhanswers.com declared in 2010, “Anyone is welcome to become a Sikh, including those with homosexual orientation. However, to act upon homosexual tendencies would not be in line with Sikh tradition or code of conduct.”

While LGBTQ issues are debated among Sikhs, the Sikh Rehat Maryada, a 1945 document created to standarize religious practice and to which many Sikhs adhere, states that homosexuality is not acceptable under any circumstances.

dukechronicle.com, 9/12/19; sikhanswers.com, 4/12/10