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Religious Freedom Conflicts Ahead After Michigan Supreme Court Redefines Sex
Catholic News Agency ^ | 8/2/22 | Kevin J. Jones

Posted on 08/08/2022 6:06:20 PM PDT by marshmallow

Denver Newsroom, Aug 2, 2022 / 17:00 pm A Michigan Supreme Court decision that state civil rights law bars discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation may conflict with religious liberty, the Catholic Church in the state has said.

The decision would “usurp the legislature’s role in the democratic process, present constitutional problems for people of faith, and place in jeopardy religious persons and entities who wish to serve others in the public square,” the Michigan Catholic Conference said July 29.

The Catholic conference warned that the decision “expressly does not address” whether enforcing the redefined Michigan civil rights law would violate federal and state constitutional religious freedom protections. It sided with a dissenting justice who said there are “strong arguments” that the majority interpretation “poses constitutional problems relating to religious liberty.”

The 5-2 decision in the case Rouch World v. Department of Civil Rights redefines sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

The ruling concerned two legal cases. In the first, the owners of an event center had denied a request from a female same-sex couple to host their wedding on the grounds that doing so would violate their religious beliefs. In the second, the owner of a body hair removal service had declined on the grounds of religious belief to perform hair removal services on a man who identifies as a transgender woman as part of his purported gender transition.

The plaintiffs had sought a declaration that sexual orientation and gender identity are not protected under state civil rights law and that the Michigan Department of Civil Rights was wrong to define them as such in a 2018 interpretative statement.

(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...


TOPICS: Moral Issues; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics
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1 posted on 08/08/2022 6:06:20 PM PDT by marshmallow
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To: marshmallow

Can you explain what was decided and what it means please


2 posted on 08/08/2022 6:09:35 PM PDT by RWGinger (LGB)
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To: RWGinger

Thanks for asking – – I couldn’t make heads or tails out of this either!


3 posted on 08/08/2022 6:12:09 PM PDT by Joann37
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To: marshmallow

I am moving to Ohio...🙄. Going to have to find a red, sanctuary state.


4 posted on 08/08/2022 6:13:11 PM PDT by madison10
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To: marshmallow

Don’t know what this means so far.
Hope wiser people will chime in here.

Self-pitying aside from me: Why is nearly all the news after Roe bad news?


5 posted on 08/08/2022 6:21:34 PM PDT by frank ballenger (You have summoned up a thundercloud. You're gonna hear from me. Anthem by Leonard Cohen)
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To: madison10

Ohio ain’t south enough.


6 posted on 08/08/2022 6:21:49 PM PDT by Right Brother
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