A Nova Scotia judge ruled Wednesday the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society does not have the authority to prevent law graduates from Trinity Western University (TWU) from articling in the province.

Justice Jamie Campbell of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court said his decision “isn’t about whether lesbian, gay, bisexual of transgender (LGBT) equality rights are more or less important than the religious freedoms of evangelical Christians.

“Refusing a TWU law degree will not address discrimination against anyone in Nova Scotia.”

TWU, an evangelical Christian university in Langley, B.C., requires all its students and staff to sign a community covenant. Among other things, the covenant is a pledge to abstain from sex before marriage. And marriage, the covenant states, is a union between a man and a woman exclusively.

The NSBS had voted TWU graduates would be accepted into its bar admission program only on the condition TWU dropped or amended the covenant for law students. TWU hopes to start its law school in B.C. in 2016.

The university does not prevent LBGT students from enrolling. Guy Safford, a spokesperson for TWU, interviewed before the decision, said, “We have gay people here who’ve felt they can make that kind of commitment.”

Safford acknowledged that the covenant effectively forbids LGBT students from having sexual relations since the university does not accept same-sex marriage.

Darrel Pink, executive director of the NSBS, said in a phone interview last week, “The covenant in its current form does discriminate against the LBGT community.” He added that the NSBS is bound by the Nova Scotia Human rights Act.

Justice Campbell, in his 139-page ruling, agreed TWU’s covenant is discriminatory under the province’s human rights act but held that the barristers’ society cannot attempt to regulate a law school.

TWU defends its covenant on the grounds of freedom of religion. Justice Campbell stressed the importance of recognizing differing religious views, even if they are offensive to some people.

He accepted that TWU’s covenant treats LGBT people in a way that probably has “profoundly negative effects on their lives”, but ended his ruling on the side of “tolerance” which he said “invites and almost requires a level of discomfort.”

It’s not the first time TWU has been before the courts over its covenant. In 2001 the Supreme Court of Canada, in a challenge brought by the B.C. Teachers Federation, ruled the signing of the document did not mean graduates of TWU’s teachers’ college would go on to discriminate against their LBGT students.

However, the NSBS case in Nova Scotia took a different approach, arguing TWU’s covenant itself discriminates against prospective law school applicants rather than accusing the eventual graduates of possibly engaging in discriminatory behaviour.

There are many more applicants for admission to law schools in Canada than there are places for them. Asked what TWU would say to a married gay applicant, Saffold replied, “We would say this is probably not the law school you would want to apply to.”

Pink pointed out that much has changed in society’s views of the LGBT community since the highest court’s 2001 decision, noting that in 2015 Ontario has a married lesbian premier and P.E.I. is about to have its first gay premier.

Although TWU is a private university, Pink pointed out it does use taxpayers’ money. “It does receive substantial amounts of public funding, not by way of operating grants but by way of research and other grants.”

Saffold confirmed TWU does receive government grants, although its fees are not subsidized by government, and that the university is a registered charity.

The Nova Scotia court’s decision doesn’t end the matter for TWU. The Law Society of Upper Canada, composed of Ontario barristers, has also rejected recognizing TWU graduates. TWU has filed for a judicial review in a case that will heard in early June.

The B.C.’s barristers society, after initially approving TWU’s law school, reversed its decision. And the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education has revoked its prior approval of the law school. TWU is challenging those actions in court.

On top of that, a gay man represented by Toronto civil rights lawyer Clayton Ruby has challenged TWU’s covenant in B.C.’s Supreme Court.

Saffold says TWU won’t go ahead with its planned law school unless the issues in B.C. are resolved in its favour. He thinks the challenge to the law society in that province will be heard before the summer.