
CV NEWS FEED // A Catholic parish in central Michigan is headed to the federal appeals court on June 11, asking the higher court to protect its constitutional right to hire employees who abide by Catholic beliefs and moral teachings.
As CatholicVote reported in December 2023, St. Joseph Catholic Church sued state Attorney General Dana Nessel after Michigan reinterpreted a state civil rights statute’s definition of sex to include sexual orientation, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
The reinterpretation occurred in 2022 but became state law in 2023, without providing exemptions for religious institutions that cannot morally employ “transgender” individuals or those living in same-sex relationships.
“Like many religious schools, St. Joseph hires teachers and staff who support and advance the Catholic faith,” reads a November press release from Becket, the law firm representing St. Joseph. “Like many Catholic churches around the country, St. Joseph asks all staff—from kindergarten teachers to part-time bookkeepers—to be practicing Catholics and to uphold the faith. St. Joseph also follows Catholic teaching on issues like pronouns for staff and children and separate girls’ and boys’ bathrooms and locker rooms.”
After a lower court dismissed the case last year, St. Joseph appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, asking for the higher court to protect its constitutional right to freely practice its religion.
“Michigan doesn’t deny that it could punish St. Joseph simply for following its faith,” Becket stated in a news release. “Instead, Michigan told St. Joseph it now must ask permission from the state’s Civil Rights Commission every time it wants to ask Catholic employees to follow Catholic teaching. Meanwhile, St. Joseph risks being sued in all its public activities—at the parish, the school, and its services to the community—simply for upholding Catholic teaching.”
Oral arguments before the appeals court will begin on June 11.
