Sign the Petition to Protect the Ability of Religious Congregations and Schools to Choose their Clergy, Ministers, Members, and Teachers

READ FULL PETITION HERE

This petition aims to address a critical issue facing religious communities in Minnesota: the restoration in state law of a crucial religious exemption within the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) concerning gender identity and expression. This exemption, which pertains to employment, membership, admissions, and governance practices within religious congregations and schools, had been in place since 1993. But the exemption was inexplicably removed last year, leaving religious organizations and schools vulnerable to civil rights complaints and legal penalties simply for upholding their values regarding matters of faith, reason, and sexual identity.

This petition asks Governor Walz and state legislators to restore the exemption to ensure faith-based organizations and schools may continue to govern themselves without fear of unreasonable governmental interference. Religious leaders have been asking for the religious exemption to be restored since last summer when its omission was discovered but have not yet been successful. In some cases, testimony to restore the exemption has even been met with hostility and derision. Now, we need the collective voice of Minnesota’s faith community to step forward and protect religious freedom—what was once a core American principle enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

To be sure, how to respond to the issues of gender and sexual identity are matters of serious debate and, within religious communities, of real pastoral sensitivity. Religious congregations are places of welcome, but also transformation according to principles that we do not create but are given to us from above. They should have the autonomy and flexibility to respond to these challenges according to their principles, especially regarding the identification of clergy and teachers to communicate their values of compassion in the light of truth.

By signing this petition, individuals affirm their support for the restoration of the religious exemption within the MHRA and their belief in the fundamental right of the free exercise of religion for both individuals and institutions. We urge all Minnesotans, irrespective of their religious affiliation, to join us in this vital effort to safeguard our religious liberties.

The following organizations representing the faith community have already publicly voiced their support for the restoration of the exemption:

  • Minnesota Catholic Conference of Bishops
  • Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
  • Evangelical Lutheran Synod
  • Agudath Israel
  • Islamic Center of Minnesota
  • Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • Transform MN—the Evangelical Network
  • Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)
  • Association of Christian Schools International
  • Islamic Association of North America
  • North Central District of the Evangelical Free Church of America
  • Minnesota District Council of the Assemblies of God
  • Minnesota Conference – Seventh-day Adventist Church

Watch the debate on this issue in the House Judiciary Committee

Watch the debate on this issue in the Senate Judiciary Committee

*This petition was created and prepared by the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the Catholic bishops of Minnesota.*