ST. JOHNS, Mich. — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights is being sued in federal court by St. Joseph's Parish in St. Johns, who says their constitutional rights are being violated by an updated civil rights law.
The church is being represented by Becket Law out of Washington D.C. Senior counsel Lori Windham said the parish wants to continue having a school to support local Catholic families.
"But, a recent change to Michigan law has made that more difficult," Windham said.
The change in Michigan law Windham is referring to is a Michigan Supreme Court case that affirmed the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Windham and the church are arguing that change violates their First Amendment rights to religious freedom.
"Michigan law is now a national outlier," Windham said. "It requires St. Joseph to hire people who don't share its Catholic faith and mission, and it could require them to have rules for their schools or for their parish activities that would be contrary to their Catholic beliefs."
Windham said St. Joseph wants to be able to ensure the people they hire are going to share their Catholic faith and teaching.
"So they're not going to say or do something that's going to overtly contradict that," Windham said.
Catholicism teaches that marriage is a life long 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.
"What's this going to mean for them. If I'm hiring a new teacher or staff member, can I ask that they also adhere to my faith?" Windham said. "'I have rules in my school for bathroom and locker rooms and other things that are going to be private for boys and girls. Am I still able to have those? These are the questions that have been left open under the law as it stands today."
The Attorney General's Office wrote in an email that the department has not yet received a copy of the lawsuit and has no comment at this time.
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