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The parish fears the school will be targeted, in the wake of the Michigan Supreme Court’s recent reinterpretation of state antidiscrimination laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Amid fears that a Catholic school could be forced to close its doors if it refuses to compromise its beliefs regarding sexuality, a Grand Rapids parish is suing the Michigan attorney general and Department of Civil Rights.
Sacred Heart of Jesus parish, which operates Sacred Heart Academy in the western Michigan city, filed its lawsuit on Dec. 12, after the Michigan Supreme Court reinterpreted the state’s antidiscrimination laws regarding sex. Under the new interpretation, the prohibition on discrimination based on sex also encompasses sexual orientation and gender-identity discrimination.
The parish worries that this reinterpretation would prevent the school from maintaining its standard-of-conduct policies for employees and its approach to how it helps students who struggle with same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria. The lawsuit requests a permanent injunction to prevent the attorney general’s office and Department of Civil Rights from enforcing these rules on Sacred Heart.
“Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish was founded more than a century ago and has been serving families in the Grand Rapids’ west side ever since,” Father Ron Floyd, the pastor of the parish, told the Register in a statement provided by his lawyers at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). “The government has no business interfering with how a church runs its own schools. We simply want to continue to act out our faith without being threatened by the government.”
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Amid fears that a Catholic school could be forced to close its doors if it refuses to compromise its beliefs regarding sexuality, a Grand Rapids parish is suing the Michigan attorney general and Department of Civil Rights.
Sacred Heart of Jesus parish, which operates Sacred Heart Academy in the western Michigan city, filed its lawsuit on Dec. 12, after the Michigan Supreme Court reinterpreted the state’s antidiscrimination laws regarding sex. Under the new interpretation, the prohibition on discrimination based on sex also encompasses sexual orientation and gender-identity discrimination.
The parish worries that this reinterpretation would prevent the school from maintaining its standard-of-conduct policies for employees and its approach to how it helps students who struggle with same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria. The lawsuit requests a permanent injunction to prevent the attorney general’s office and Department of Civil Rights from enforcing these rules on Sacred Heart.
“Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish was founded more than a century ago and has been serving families in the Grand Rapids’ west side ever since,” Father Ron Floyd, the pastor of the parish, told the Register in a statement provided by his lawyers at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). “The government has no business interfering with how a church runs its own schools. We simply want to continue to act out our faith without being threatened by the government.”
Continued below.
Michigan Parish Files Lawsuit to Protect School From State Intrusion Over Catholic Beliefs on Sexuality
The parish fears the school will be targeted, in the wake of the Michigan Supreme Court’s recent reinterpretation of state antidiscrimination laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
It's an old, Polish parish, and extremely conservative. For a long time, it was the only church in the entire diocese where you could attend the Tridentine Mass....I don't know if that's still the case or not; it's been better than 25 years since I attended there.
