Washington State Supreme Court reversed a previous ruling by a King County Superior Court judge on the legal exemptions of religious employers from the state's anti-discrimination law, which could potentially open doors for violations of religious freedom.
Two years ago, The King County Superior Court Judge Karen Donohue, dismissed a lawsuit filed by a bisexual man, Matt Woods, in 2017 against Seattle's Union Gospel Mission, one of the largest homeless shelter in Seattle, after the non-profit organization refused to hire him because of his sexual orientation.
As indicated on the Employee Code of Conduct, "All staff members are expected to live by a Biblical moral code that excludes extramarital affairs, sex outside of marriage, homosexual behavior, drunkenness, illegal behavior, use of illegal drugs, and any activity that would have an appearance of evil."
The organization, at that time, was just exercising its rights as religious organizations are then exempted from the state's anti-discrimination law regarding people's sexual orientation.
Judge Donohue dismissed the complaint because it is the organization's right to refuse job applicants who don't share the same value as theirs at that time.
But now, it looks like religious organizations, such as the Union Gospel Mission, will be forced to hire members of the LGBT community as the Washington Supreme Court reversed the ruling and ordered that the case should be returned and reviewed back to the lower court, the Seattle Times reported.
The court's decision, according to The Blaze, could not only greatly impact homeless shelter organizations, but also a number of social service programs in the state because most of these organizations are run by religious nonprofits.
The Seattle Times also mentioned that the public's acceptance of same-sex marriages and relationships has also made its impact on local religious organizations in the past few years.
However, Seattle Times reporter Sydney Brownstone also noted that the ruling doesn't necessarily pertain to the exemption of religious employers on the anti-discriminatory act, but it "questions whether that exemption applies to a staff attorney at a legal aid clinic - a decision that could potentially open the door to more LGBTQ staffers working in social services at religious nonprofits."
On the other hand, Matt Woods has given his response regarding the ruling, claiming he was relieved to hear this news:
"To get the affirmation from the court that religious organizations don't have a right to blanket discriminate against LGBTQ people for who they are no matter what the job is a big relief," he said. "Especially for members of my community that are so much more likely to experience discrimination in the workplace because of their race or gender identity."
The Union Gospel Mission, however, did not respond to the issue when they were contacted by the Seattle Times.
Legislations such as the Equality Act and developments such as this ruling by the Washington Court threatens the religious freedom of organizations that still values traditional Biblical beliefs.
