ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book considers how conflicts between claims of religious freedom to act in discriminatory ways and the right not to be subjected to sexual orientation discrimination should be addressed in law. It considers various legal cases and situations that have occurred in the three jurisdictions such as: the US, Canada, and England and Wales, the legal principles used to decide these cases and how a proportionality test could be applied to them. The book examines situations where there is a clash of rights, it will only rarely address the situation in those US states that do not prohibit sexual orientation discrimination. American scholarship was the first to refer to the clash of world views that these conflicts illustrate as amounting to a 'culture war' and such a description has become relevant to the other jurisdictions as well, although to a lesser extent.
