A Catholic church in rural Michigan is suing the state, arguing new sex and gender protections under civil rights law prevent its school from hiring and teaching according to its faith.
St. Joseph Catholic Church, serving 900 families just north of Lansing, filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court. Lawyers from the Diocese of Lansing and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty are representing.
The suit names state Attorney General Dana Nessel, the Department of Civil Rights and the Civil Rights Commission.
The Michigan Supreme Court ruled in July that sexual orientation and gender identity are protected in the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, meaning – for example – someone can’t be denied a job on those grounds.
But this decision “threatens St. Joseph’s freedom to continue its religious mission,” the church argues in federal court, by making it “unlawful” to follow “2,000-year-old” Catholic teachings in its elementary school.
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Teachings include “that marriage is a lifelong commitment between one man and one woman, that sexual relations are limited to marriage, and that human beings are created as either male or female.”
The church’s hiring ads require applicants be Catholic and commit to following a religious code of conduct, but the ELCRA prevents this, the lawsuit argues.
“St. Joseph’s religious decisions regarding how to advance its mission and ministry are protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution,” according to the filing.
The First Amendment protects freedom of religion, speech and assembly, the suit notes. The 14th Amendment provides “equal protection” under the law.
A Department of Civil Rights spokesperson told MLive Tuesday afternoon it could not yet confirm it had been served with the lawsuit, and thus it could not yet comment.
Nessel’s office and Civil Rights Commission chair Portia Roberson did not respond to MLive’s request for comment Tuesday.
The civil rights department allows exemptions when religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and other things are “a bona fide occupational qualification,” St. Joseph notes, but the church argues “its constitution rights don’t turn on asking for one.”
St. Joseph also questions whether it can carry out its activities or rent its facilities “without being held liable as a public accommodation.” Hypotheticals include a same-sex couple wanting to host a wedding at the church or “biologically male” students or Mass attendees wanting to use a female restroom.
And, the church argues, it “could be excluded from participating on equal terms with non-religious agencies for the same public benefits and contracting arrangements.”
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