USA Today and NewsMax, along with a number of blogs, report that on July 9, 2008 a man from Michigan is suing two Christian publishers for $70 million for emotional distress and mental instability he received during the past 20 years from versions of the Bible that refer to homosexuality as a sin.

 
Bradley LaShawn Fowler, 39, a gay man, claims his constitutional rights were infringed upon by Zondervan Publishing Co. and Thomas Nelson Publishing, both of which, he claims, deliberately caused homosexuals to suffer by misinterpretation of the Bible. He is seeking $60 million from Zondervan and another $10 million from Thomas Nelson.
 
In his two suits, Fowler claims that the publishers’ intent in their Bible revisions refer to homosexuals as sinners and these revisions reflect an individual opinion or a group’s conclusion.
 
Fowler says the deliberate changes made to I Corinthians 6:9 caused him "or anyone who is a homosexual to endure verbal abuse, discrimination, episodes of hate, and physical violence … including murder." He also claims that the publishers are misinterpreting the Bible by specifically using the word homosexuals, which made him an outcast from his family and contributed to physical discomfort and periods of demoralization, chaos and bewilderment.
 
Fowler admits that every Bible printed is a translation that can be interpreted in many ways, but he says specifically using the word “homosexual” is not a translation but a change. He says Zondervan Bibles used the word “homosexuals” going back to its 1980s translation among a list of those who are “wicked’ or unrighteous and won’t inherit the kingdom of heaven.”
 
Zondervan, for its part, issued a statement to the Grand Rapids press stating it does not translate the Bible or own the copyright for any of the translations it publishes
 
“We rely on the scholarly judgment of the highly respected and credible translation committees behind each translation and never alter the text of the translations we are licensed to publish,” the statement reads.
 
“We only publish credible translations produced by credible Biblical scholars.”
 
U.S. District Judge Julian Abele Cook Jr., who will hear Fowler’s case against Thomas Nelson, says the court “has some very genuine concerns about the nature and efficacy of [Fowler’s] claims."