A 63-year-old blind woman was banned for 2 years from a park and a library in Rhode Island because she shared about her Christian faith.
According to Fox News, Blair would offer a passage from the Bible like the Gospel of John to other people. But the Officials, who are in charge of Westerly Library and Wilcox Park, demanded Gail Blair to stop sharing to others about Jesus. The association members called the police on June 24, 2019, saying that she was "accosting" people by "stopping" and "giving them religious pamphlets."
She denied that she was accosting them. She said, "I do what the Pocket Testament League urges. Simply offer them a Gospel of John, the Word of God. No arguing."
Blair and William Wray Jr., an attorney at Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C., who are represented by First Liberty Institute, filed a discrimination complaint with the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights against the Association.
Blair also worked as a nurse until 1991 and suffered from a disorder that created slow vision loss. In the complaint, Blair describes that she was prohibited "because of the Associations' unlawful discrimination against me on the basis of my disability and my religious beliefs."
Blair said, "The Police Department searched for all incidents that involved complaints or trespass notices issued to anyone for distributing information, pamphlets, soliciting, selling, hawking, etc., and found none apart from when the Association called the police to eject me from the park. My conduct did not violate the 'Rules of Conduct' posted by Westerly Library and Wilcox Park. Nor did it violate any of the Park's Guidelines."
A spokesperson from the Association told Fox News it "does not engage in nor tolerate any forms of discrimination," also that they have not received a copy of the complaint and "cannot specifically comment on the allegations made by Gail Blair." They said, "The Association vehemently denies any claims of discrimination or wrongdoing and it looks forward to receiving a copy of the complaint in order to rebut and disprove any claims made by Ms. Blair."
