LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A Michigan Catholic parish seeking religious exemption to Michigan’s expanded Civil Rights Act hopes to take its case to a higher court.

St. Joseph’s parish, located in Clinton County’s town of Saint Johns, is suing for a religious exemption to a state law that prohibits hiring discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

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“Michigan cannot tell St. Joseph and every other religious organization in the state that they are breaking the law by staying true to their religious beliefs,” said William Haun, senior counsel at the religious liberty organization defending the parish. “We are asking the court to step in and ensure that religious groups across the state can live out their faith and not be sued simply because they open their doors to everyone.”

The history of the case

The parish opened its legal case in 2022 but faced dismissal by a lower court earlier this year. It has now appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court.

The law at the center of the case is an expansion of Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), signed by Gov. Whitmer earlier this year. The expansion came after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that ELCRA’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex also included discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Have other organizations expressed concern?

St. Joseph is one of several religious organizations to express concerns about the ELCRA expansion and its lack of provision for religious exemption. Christian Healthcare Centers (CHC), which also brought a suit in 2022, said it provides care regardless of patient sexual orientation or gender identity but that certain legal requirements violate its religious convictions.

The nonprofit’s lawsuit alleged the new laws could force it to prescribe cross-sex hormones and refer to patients by their stated gender identity rather than their biological sex.

“Under the guise of stopping discrimination, the law discriminates against religious organizations, requiring them to forfeit their religious character and hire people who do not share their faith,” the group wrote in its lawsuit. “In effect, the law requires Christian Healthcare to check its religious faith at the clinic door — the very faith that motivates the clinic to open its doors to help those in need.”

Other religious organizations have weighed in

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The Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty and the Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team recently filed a joint brief in CHC’s case. The groups did not take either party’s side but expressed concerns about possible negative effects of forcing religious organizations to hire employees who do not share their beliefs.

“The coreligionist exemption serves significant constitutional interests by deferring to religious organizations’ own determination of which roles and responsibilities are so tied to the group’s religious mission that they may be filled only by fellow believers,” the brief read. “While adherents of all faiths would bear the adverse effect of a limitation on or retraction of the exemption, that risk would fall with particular weight on minority faith groups.”