ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Republicans and faith leaders are seeking a change in the state's Human Rights Act, to allow faith groups and private schools to have a religious exemption when considering transgender persons in hiring decisions.
State law already allows a religious exemption from anti-discrimination laws when it comes to sexual orientation. But the DFL majority last session expanded the Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity without creating an exemption for faith organizations.
Now, Minnesota GOP and faith leaders are asking for religious exemption, saying churches and faith-based schools could be sued for refusing to hire transgender employees under the new language. Faith groups currently have a religious exemption when it comes to sexual orientation.
"Faith communities, before the law was changed, had a clear religious exemption for anything related to sexual orientation, and the concept of gender identity was subsumed within it," said Rep. Harry Niska, the Ramsey Republican who co-authored the amendment.
"Faith communities were clear that, for example, the hiring of ministers, hiring of teachers or other school staffs at their schools, that they were completely free to do that in accordance with their faith."
Rep. Niska was joined by dozens of people, including lawmakers and religious leaders at a State Capitol news conference Monday afternoon. An hour later, Niska was unsuccessful in an attempt to force a floor vote on the issue in the House.
He attempted a parliamentary maneuver known as "declaring an urgency" which would allow a piece of legislation to bypass the committee process and be voted on directly by the full House. Those efforts are rarely successful when proposed by the legislative minority, and Monday's exercise was no exception.
The DFL majority tabled the motion on a 67-56 vote.
"There has been conversation about this in committee," said House Majority Leader Rep. Jamie Long. "We are still early in session. There is an opportunity for more conversation in committee."
Rep. Long was referencing a debate Feb. 29 in the House Judiciary Finance Committee, when that panel took up a request from the Minnesota Human Rights Department to update the Human Rights Act.
Niska invited several clergy members to testify in support of his amendment that would create the religious exemption to allow faith groups to discriminate against transgender job applicants. He said leaving the law the way it is would amount to the State of Minnesota and the DFL Majority dictating religious beliefs on faith groups.
But several Democrats on the panel said they were disturbed by an amendment that would amount to "erasing" transgender Minnesotans.
"This is a direct attack against the trans and nonbinary communities," Rep. Brion Curran, a member of the Legislature's Queer Caucus, told her colleagues.
"So, no, you cannot respect all people when you don't believe certain people exist!"
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