Renee Carlson – True North Legal

If You Care About Religious Freedom, Read This

Dear friends,

As your voice in the legislature and the courts, True North Legal and Minnesota Family Council want to be sure you are equipped with information to engage on critical issues regarding life, family, and religious freedom.

Many of you have been following recent changes to the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which is not only consequential to Christians, but people of all faiths in Minnesota. This issue is of critical and urgent concern for all of us who believe in religious freedom in Minnesota. I’d like to provide you with more information on these changes from the perspective of a religious freedom attorney, and also ask you to take a moment to tell your legislators to protect religious freedom by clicking this link or the button below to go to Minnesota Family Council’s action alert.

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In short, last year the legislature amended the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) by adding explicit legal protections for people based on “gender identity”. Previously protections extended to “sexual orientation” and were interpreted to apply to gender identity. The MHRA also included protections for religious organizations via a religious exemption established in 1993 when sexual orientation was added to the list of protected groups in the MHRA. This exemption prohibited the state from forcing religious organizations to comply with the anti-discrimination law provisions with respect to protected categories like sexual orientation when those provisions are inconsistent with a religious organization’s sincerely held beliefs. (See Minn. Stat. 363A.20, 363A.26).

The religious exemption statute was not amended last year to make clear that the legislature intended to maintain protections for religious organizations. The words “gender identity” should have been included in the exemption as well. While we had hoped it was an oversight, last month the House Judiciary Chair stated on the record that the omission of those words was intentional. A discussion ensued during the committee where Democratic legislators not only refused to accept an amendment to protect religious organizations, but also called the amendment to protect religious organizations “disturbing” and “disgusting.” This despite hearing reasoned testimony from members of different faith communities, including Christians, Catholics, and Muslims.

The Minnesota Senate also took up the MHRA bill providing another opportunity to testify and request that the Senate amend the bill and restore protections for religious organizations. We had around 24 hours’ notice from Sunday to Monday to prepare for this hearing. I arrived at 6:00 pm on Monday and testified at 12:30 am on Tuesday morning. You can watch my testimony here on Instagram or here on YouTube. Testifiers were only given two minutes for remarks on this significant issue and the committee Chairman stated his intent to wrap up any discussion on the MHRA bill in 20 minutes.

The time for solidarity for religious freedom and from religious people is now! You can click on this link to ask your legislators to stand up for religious freedom. We align on this issue with many faith communities in Minnesota. To be clear, our ecumenical partnerships are not a departure from our strong Christian convictions and beliefs. Our partnership is a reflection of our understanding that if we want religious freedom for ourselves, we have to extend it to others. And, in this freedom we have the great opportunity, and duty, to share the gospel!

Having worked with ministries and churches for quite a few years while also being involved in ministry and married to a pastor, the Lord has uniquely prepared me to be on the frontlines of this issue. He does not waste anything in my life experiences or yours!

True North Legal will continue in the work to restore our legal protections under Minnesota law. It is a joy to co-labor with all of you.

Renee Carlson

General Counsel, True North Legal

Bringing Clarity: The Status of Exemptions for Religious Organizations in Minnesota

By Renee K. Carlson, General Counsel, True North Legal

UPDATE: This bill was pulled from the committee schedule in advance of its expected second hearing (March 7, 2024). The bill may continue to move forward in the Legislature, and no fix to the concerning language threatening religious freedom has yet been adopted.

Last week, the public learned that the statutory exemptions for religious organizations under the Minnesota Human Rights Act are under threat. Many groups from diverse faith communities, including Jewish, Muslim, Mormon, Christian, and Catholic, signed a letter bringing attention to what appeared to be a legislative oversight due to statutory changes–namely, explicitly including “gender identity” as a protected category under the Minnesota Human Rights Act. The letter asked legislators to make clear that the legislature did not intend to eliminate protections for religious organizations, religious schools, and religious nonprofits by omitting explicit statutory language that protects them.

On February 29th, 2024, the legislature heard a bill in the House Judiciary Committee (link to view it here starting at 13:00) amending various sections of the Minnesota Human Rights Act, but the exemption for religious organizations remained in question. Rep. Harry Niska offered an amendment which would have amended the statute to make clear that the legislature indeed intends to honor religious freedom and religious autonomy of religious organizations and nonprofits. Notably, at this hearing, the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, Commissioner Lucero, also testified about the bill and did not offer to amend or change the language when given an opportunity. The Committee Chair, Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn stated that the omission was in fact intentional.

After hearing from testifiers representing diverse faith groups from across Minnesota, a heated discussion ensued where members of the “Queer Caucus,” including Rep. Leigh Finke and Rep. Brion Curran, expressed feelings of disturbance and “disgust” towards people of faith whose beliefs about gender and human sexuality are driven by their sincerely held religious beliefs. Another legislator, Rep. Frederick, a professing Catholic, stated it was “hard to listen to” some of the testifiers, who were simply asking that the State ensure that protections for religious groups under the Minnesota Human Rights Act are consistent with religious freedom protections afforded by the Minnesota Constitution and the U.S. Constitution.

It was striking to see leaders of the Islamic, Catholic and ACSI (association of Christian Schools) testify in favor of the amendment in a dignified way, ensuring Committee members heard that the amendment was not about exclusion, but about protecting religious freedom. The hostile response from progressive legislators was shocking to witness, and Minnesotans have reacted with astonishment to this professed hostility toward religious freedom. To be clear, the religious exemption isn’t just about protecting one particular religious group; this applies to EVERY RELIGIOUS AND FAITH GROUP IN MINNESOTA!

Late last Friday, the Senate posted its schedule for this week, which included the companion bill in question, to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 6th at 12:30 pm. Anyone who wanted to submit written or oral testimony was required to do so by 10:00 am on March 4th. On Monday, an email was sent to all of those who signed up to testify by 10:00 am stating that due to the number of testifiers and interest, a random selection process would determine who gets to testify. So, some people will be precluded from testifying and religious leaders in particular who may have influence in their communities would not be guaranteed the opportunity to have their voice heard. Not to mention there is little to no lead time for discussion or public debate on an issue of significant importance. To ensure religious protections are protected for all religious organizations in Minnesota the religious exemption must be included in legislation moving forward. This is the time to pray!