Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 961328.pdf

Citation: Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 961328.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/961328.pdf ↗

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Our state law protects the right to employment free from discrimination on

the basis of LGBTQ+ status (as well as on the basis of race, gender, etc.). The law

also protects the right of religious institutions to choose their ministers. Thus, I

agree with the majority that a religious institution, such as a church, has the

freedom to discriminate on the basis of LGBTQ+ status when choosing its

ministers in accordance with its religious doctrines. I also agree with the majority

that this license to discriminate belongs only to religious institutions and not to

other entities such as legal, medical, or commercial institutions. It is also

important to point out that this license to discriminate exists only with respect to

2
For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.
Woods v. Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, No. 96132-8
(Yu, J., concurring)

the institution’s choice of ministers (not with respect to its choice of nonministers)

and that this freedom to discriminate is not a mandate to do so.

Given our state’s long-standing commitment to eradicating discrimination

and to fostering a diverse workforce, it is my greatest hope that religious

institutions will recognize and embrace the choice to limit the “ministerial

exception” to those employees for whom such an exception is absolutely necessary

and grounded in sound reason and purpose. After all, the right to exclude the

LGBTQ+ community from ministerial employment by religious institutions is not

a right that must be exercised. Rather, it is a choice by that religious institution

and it is a choice that is not governed by an external judicial doctrine but rather one

carved out by the religious entity itself. Religious institutions making such a