united-states employment discrimination michigan
Is the following nondiscrimination policy itself discriminatory against Christians?
<p>Country: US</p>

<p>State: Michigan</p>

<p><strong>Situation:</strong></p>

<p>I work for a large employer in Michigan. We have over 10,000 employees total. My employer bans discrimination on the basis of an incredibly long list of characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity.</p>

<p>It seems to me that they have crafted this policy specifically to keep Christians away by making the company unwelcome to us. Had they told me the policy before I was hired, I might have voluntarily withdrawn myself from the hiring process, and they could claim "not a culture fit". But doesn't their culture discriminate against Christian employees by being incompatible with Christian views?</p>

<p>It would seem that: <strong>The policy named above, that bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, discriminates against Christians who believe that deviant sexualities are against God.</strong></p>

<h2>What discrimination?</h2>

<p>As explained in <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/46397/conflict-between-a-religious-belief-that-accounts-for-the-existence-of-transgend">Conflict between a religious belief that accounts for the existence of transgender people vs. one that doesn&#39;t</a> the Constitutional protection of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Exercise_Clause" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Free Exercise Clause</a> applies to the exercise of a deeply held belief (religious or not).</p>

<p>So, let's accept that a person believes that certain sexual practices or gender identity is morally repugnant for whatever reason and that belief triggers the Constitutional protections. That means, that the person cannot be forced to engage in those sexual practices or adopt a different gender identity. It does not mean that they have a licence to discriminate against people who do in a work or public environment - they can, of course, choose to avoid such people in their private life.</p>

<p>Alternatively, if the person believes that they are required by their faith to discriminate on the basis of those characteristics then such a belief does not get Constitutional protection as it is now affecting the rights of others. In the same way that someone who believed in human sacrifice would not get Constitutional protection.</p>
