The Rumble of the Protected Classes

I read this story a while ago in the Washington Times, University rebukes employee for e-mail decrying lesbianism, and before I forget again I want to bring it to attention.

The article explains how a student employee at William Patterson University received a mass email from a faculty member about the upcoming viewing and discussion of a film on campus:

Mr. Daniel received an e-mail from Miss Scala on March 7 advertising an upcoming viewing and discussion of the film "Ruthie and Connie: Every Room in the House." The e-mail referred to the film as a "lesbian relationship story."

Mr Daniel's reply to the email got him a reprimand in his permanent university personnel file that he is now beginning a legal battle to have removed. This was his "derogatory or demeaning" email reply:

Mr. Daniel replied to the professor the next day asking that he not be sent "any mail about 'Connie and Sally'... and 'Adam and Steve.'?" "These are perversions," Mr. Daniel wrote. "The absence of God in higher education brings on confusion. That is why in these classes the creator of the heavens and the universe is never mentioned."

The interesting point about this story is that Mr. Daniel is a Muslim. So now what is the outcome when religious freedom meets anti-harassment policies? Mr. Daniel lost his case but is now appealing.

So, if a Christian had sent that email response he would have been reprimanded with no hope of being cleared of wrongdoing. If a Muslim had sent an email describing divorce or maybe some aspect of what another individual said or did as a "perversion" he would have been untouchable. But now, and maybe sometime again in the future, who will institutions side with when two protected minority groups - one religious, the other based on sexual orientation- come together and bash heads?