Minnesota faith leaders, GOP say gender identity protections impinge on their religious freedom

Minnesota House Republicans and faith community members unsuccessfully sought to declare an urgency Monday to insert a religious exemption for gender identity in the state Human Rights Act.

"Will you show that 'one Minnesota' includes people of faith? Including the faith community that you don't agree with?" asked Rep. Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, on the House floor.

There was no debate. House Majority Leader Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis, successfully tabled the issue on a 67-56 vote, saying there is plenty of time remaining in the session to discuss the issue.

After the floor session, however, Judiciary Finance Chairwoman Jamie Becker-Finn, DFL-Roseville, said it's too late to bring up the bill this year. "It's an argument to have, but we had the argument last year," she said.

Last year, the Legislature added gender identity to the state's Human Rights Act. The law, initially passed in 1993, bars discrimination in Minnesota based on race, religion, disability, national origin, sex, marital status, familial status, age, sexual orientation and gender identity in matters of employment, housing, education and public services.

Religious organizations are exempt from following the law when it comes to sexual orientation. But no exemption was added last year for gender identity. Becker-Finn said gender identity extends to everyone. "The protections aren't just for queer folks. Everybody has a gender identity," she said.

Becker-Finn used the example of an employer who wouldn't hire those who identity as women as managers because of a belief that women aren't up to the job.

She said the Republicans are raising the issue for attention. "They're doing this because it gets them a lot of clicks and they get to give some fun speeches on the floor," she said.

Before the floor session, House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth of Cold Spring and Niska decried that their attempts to exempt gender identity from the Human Rights Act had been rebuffed.

"It is our duty to safeguard the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, including the right of each Minnesotan to freely exercise their religion," Demuth said. "This is not just an issue of one faith tradition; this is an issue that affects all of us."

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