Public Affairs and Religious Liberty News, February 28, 2022

This week:

On February 19, 2022, the Oakwood Adventist Academy boys basketball team forfeited in playing a semi-final game after the Alabama High School Athletic Association denied their request for a religious accommodation. The decision of the Oakwood team along with the denial for a religious accommodation has quickly garnered national attention.

• This story is available from the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists at: “Bigger Than Basketball”

The Seventh-day Adventist church in Australia has raised concerns about proposed legislation banning conversion therapy. While the Seventh-day Adventist church in Australia does not support conversion therapy or its practices, it is concerned about ambiguous wording used in the bill which could be used to criminalize praying or offering pastoral services to someone who is struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identity.

• This story is available from the Adventist Record, a publication of the South American Division of Seventh-day Adventists at: Church responds to conversion therapy bill

For more information about any of these stories please contact Jennifer Gray Woods, director of government affairs and associate director for Public Affairs and Religious Liberty at the Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters at [email protected]