A group of Catholic nuns are suing New York state over a 2023 state law that requires them to house patients according to gender identity and not biological sex. For over 100 years, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne have operated Rosary Hill, a 42-bed facility that provides free care for terminally ill patients nearing the end of their life. The Sisters filed a complaint on April 6 against the state’s  LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights, signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, one month after their request for a religious exemption went unanswered. The Bill requires facilities like Rosary Hill to assign patients to rooms based on their gender identity “even over the opposition of the roommate.” In addition to requiring staff to refer to patients by preferred pronouns, the Bill also requires Rosary Hill to “create communities’ affirming patients’ sexual preferences, to accommodate patients’ desire for extramarital relations, and to post notices affirming compliance with these requirements.” According to the Sisters’ complaint, staff are also required to “undergo ‘cultural competency training indoctrinating them in these practices and in gender ideology.”

The Catholic Church has restricted blessings on gay marriage and teaches the supremacy of biological sex over gender identity. In a wide-ranging interview for his biography, Pope Leo XIV stated, “It seems to me very unlikely, at least in the near future, that the doctrine of the Church will change its teachings on sexuality and marriage.” “It would contradict the teachings of the Bible concerning God’s creative sovereignty, contradict reason and truth, and betray our sacred obligation not to knowingly harm other persons, particularly the most vulnerable,” the complaint from the Sisters stated. “The implications are so much greater than whether to utter the words ‘he’ or ‘she.’ Indeed, to demand that a Catholic deny another’s sex is to require him or her to affirm another religious worldview.” The Sisters assert that the Bill violates their First Amendment Rights. To date, Rosary Hill has already received three “Dear Administrator Letters” from the New York Department of Health warning them they must comply with the law. Non-compliance could lead to fines up to $2,000 per violation which could rise to $5,000, as well as court-ordered forced compliance, loss of licensing, and even up to one year in prison.

In a statement to Fox News, a spokesperson for Hochul’s office stated, “While the Department does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation, the NYS Department of Health is committed to following state law, which provides nursing home residents certain rights protecting against discrimination including, but not limited to, gender identity or expression.” Mother Marie Edward, general superior of the Hawthorne Dominicans, defended the Sisters. “We Sisters have taken care of patients from all walks of life, ideologies, and faiths,” she said in a press release. “We treat each patient with dignity and Christian charity. We have never had complaints. We cannot implement New York’s mandate without violating our Catholic faith.”