Court ruling backs faith-based hiring practices by the Yakima Union Gospel Mission

Yakima Herald-Republic ^ | January 6, 2026 | Joel Donofrio

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

A unanimous decision by a federal appeals court will allow Yakima Union Gospel Mission to continue its faith-based hiring practices.

The decision, issued Tuesday by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, agreed with the organization's lawsuit challenging a state anti-discrimination law that would affect the mission’s hiring of employees to non-ministerial positions.

State law forbids hiring practices based on sexual orientation, with some exceptions for religious organizations.

In its ruling, the court cited the religious freedoms outlined in the First Amendment in allowing Union Gospel Mission to require its employees to agree with and live out its Christian beliefs and practices — including abstaining from any sexual conduct outside of marriage between one man and one woman.

[Veto!]

Good ruling. We have terrific people working at UGM in our city. Every one of them a totally sobered. up drunk thanks to their program. They build simple but nice buildings to give them homes for sober alcoholisc and have a really good resale shop with nothing but topnotch merchandize. Also have a used car lot. I donated a used car to them years ago.

I donate a few simple things to them now and then. They take nothing dirty or soiled in any way. As the mother of a genius son who died from acute alcohol poisoning, I respect their efforts on behalf of addicts and alcoholics.

[castlebrew]

UGM’s approach actually works, as opposed to the debunked “housing first” model which only seems to solve a paycheck problem for NGOs and city employees.

[fwdude]

I hope this is a trend in legal doctrine.

For at least a couple of decades the sodomites have been making inroads again religious rights, backing churches into the smallest corners of their own realms. They soon got the unconstitutional doctrine of "ministerial exception" established as the only place that churches could make decisions ABOUT THEIR OWN EMPLOYEES, IN THE MIDST OF THEIR OWN CONGREGATION. Several Christian schools have been successfully sued for not hiring, or firing, open sodomites or others openly living sinful lifestyles.

Then the homosexual left attempted to claim the right to define who counts as a "religious minister," right on cue.