On Monday, Judge Sharon Gleason of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska dismissed a case brought about by the Downtown Soup Kitchen Hope Center of Anchorage against the city over a revision to its ordinance saying that places of accommodation cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity as the women's shelter is not a public place. Because of the decision, the faith-based homeless shelter will not be required to admit trans-identifying biological males.
According to the Christian Post, the Downtown Soup Kitchen Hope Center of Anchorage was established to serve battered women seeking refuge from domestic abuse, as well as homeless women. Part of the ministry to the underprivileged was a soup kitchen. Judge Gleason granted in part a motion from the city of Anchorage to dismiss the case because of lack of standing. The city contends that the statute does not apply to the charitable facility's operations.
In the ruling, the city of Anchorage cited the U.S. Supreme Court's decision this summer, in which they favored a Catholic foster care agency that was removed from Philadelphia's foster program because of policies that prevented the placement of children in families with same-sex parents. The municipality argued that the Supreme Court ruling "makes clear that Hope Center is not a public accommodation."
Judge Gleason however ruled that the Downtown Soup Kitchen Hope Center of Anchorage "may seek damages for its self-censorship...for the limited time period between the ordinance's passage and the municipality's disavowal of prosecutorial intent," Anchorage Daily News reported. It was unclear how much the Center was allowed to seek to collect from the city.
The lawsuit dismissed on Monday was the second legal challenge filed by the Downtown Soup Kitchen Hope Center against Anchorage's anti-discrimination efforts. In 2018, the Center filed a case against the city, alleging that the shelter's rules discriminated against transgender women. Judge Gleason heard the case and issued a preliminary injunction and decided that the city's rules are not applicable to the shelter.
The result was a settlement in which Anchorage had to pay $100,001 to Downtown Soup Kitchen Hope Center to cover its legal costs. After the payment, the Anchorage Assembly rewrote the city's anti-discrimination law, which then became the subject of the second lawsuit.
"Faith-based nonprofits should be free to serve consistently with their faith without fear of unjust government punishment," argued Ryan Tucker, director of Alliance Defending Freedom's Center for Christian Ministries. The conservative religious liberty legal nonprofit represented Downtown Soup Kitchen Hope Center and praised Judge Gleason's ruling to defend the religious rights of the faith-based group.
Tucker added that this is "especially true" for facilities like Downtown Soup Kitchen Hope Center, as "no woman should be forced to disrobe next to a man." He expressed approval over how the court has "allowed Downtown Hope Center to continue protecting women and operating according to its religious beliefs."
ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson said in a statement that vulnerable women have the right to have a "safe place" to stay and Downtown Soup Kitchen Hope Center provides that for them. She argued that it "exists to provide a safe place for women, many of whom have survived sex trafficking, rape, or domestic violence at the hands of men."
