DOJ to join Dominicans’ suit on NY gender identity law for long

DOJ to join Dominicans’ suit on NY gender identity law for long-term care facilities June 23, 2026By Kurt Jensen OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The Department of Justice has moved to become a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit against New York state filed by the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who operate a 42-bed palliative care program for the dying poor. A 2024 New York law, known as the Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers and People Living with HIV, requires long-term care facilities to use preferred pronouns and assign rooms based on gender identity. The sisters’ facility, Rosary Hill, serves cancer patients. The lawsuit was filed April 6 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains by the Idaho-based law firm of First & Fourteenth. Named as defendants are New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and four administrators in the New York State Department of Health. A hearing date has not been set, and the state is expected to ask the court to dismiss the suit.In a June 18 statement, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dillon said, “States should take notice that they cannot require Americans to abandon their religious beliefs in the name of woke gender ideology.” The intervention is being handled by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, headed by Dillon. The Justice Department focus “will be on New York’s violation of the (14th Amendment’s) Equal Protection Clause (of religious groups) by discriminating against religion and discriminating between religions,” L. Martin Nussbaum, a senior partner in First & Fourteen, told OSV News. “By devoting its resources to help correct New York’s burden on the sisters’ religious exercise, the United States is saying that this case is one (included under federal law) of ‘general public importance.'” The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne operate “in accordance” with the U.S. Catholic bishops’ “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services” and “the teachings of the Catholic Church,” the lawsuit states. “They cannot comply with the mandate without violating these sincerely held religious beliefs.” The state law mandates that nursing homes use a resident’s chosen name/pronouns and honor rooming requests based on gender identity. It took effect May 28, 2024. “‘Transgender medicine’ can change surface appearance but never sex. And Scripture forbids lying to another about reality,” the lawsuit says. “Requiring a person to identify another by a sex other than his or her God-gifted sex would therefore require such a person to act against central, unchangeable and architectural teachings of the Catholic faith. 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.” Additionally, it said, “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.” Guidance from the state Department of Health just before the law took effect told nursing homes they were required to “ensure that at least once every two years, each facility staff member who works directly with residents receives training on cultural competency focusing on residents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and/or residents living with HIV.” The lawsuit notes that the mandate “discriminates between religious groups by exempting the Church of Christ, Scientist and its affiliates while denying any exemption to Catholic organizations.” It says that “If the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne and Rosary Hill Home do not comply, they face fines, injunctions, potential loss of licensing, and imprisonment.” Doug Wilson, CEO of the Catholic Benefits Association, said, in a June 22 statement, “We’re glad to have the DOJ support our arguments. If religious freedom does not protect the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who does it protect? “These are real people serving dying patients. They accept no government or insurance funds. Shouldn’t they be allowed to conduct their ministry consistent with the Catholic values that inspired them to undertake this holy work in the first place?” Mother Marie Edward Deutsch, the Hawthorne Dominicans’ superior general, said in a statement the order was “grateful the Department of Justice sees the injustice in this matter. This gives us hope that the country’s founding principles are still strong after 250 years.” Rose Hawthorne Lathrop (1851-1926), a daughter of author Nathaniel Hawthorne, founded the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, Congregation of St. Rose of Lima, in 1900. She took the name Mother Mary Alphonsa. The order’s apostolate is the Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer. Mother Mary Alphonsa is a candidate for sainthood, and on March 19, 2024, the Vatican issued a decree declaring her “Venerable.” Read More World News Pakistan Catholics counter persecution with hope, says bishops’ human rights director French bishops launch prayer novena ahead of key ‘assisted-dying’ vote Despite land transfer, Apache Stronghold continues effort to protect sacred Arizona site Cardinal Pizzaballa prays in the cave where Jesus stopped with his mother Religious, civic leaders join Pope Leo for Liberty Medal award ceremony World’s conflicts are ‘fed’ more readily than people, Pope Leo XIV says Copyright © 2026 OSV News Print

Facts Only

* The Department of Justice moved to become a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit against New York state.
* The lawsuit was filed by the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who operate the Rosary Hill facility.
* New York state enacted a 2024 law requiring long-term care facilities to use preferred pronouns and assign rooms based on gender identity.
* The lawsuit targets New York Governor Kathy Hochul and four administrators in the New York State Department of Health as defendants.
* The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne operate a 42-bed palliative care program for cancer patients at Rosary Hill.
* The lawsuit alleges that the state law violates the Religious Freedom and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment regarding religious groups.
* The lawsuit argues that mandating gender identity accommodation requires violating the sincerely held religious beliefs and teachings of the Catholic faith concerning sex and creation.
* The state mandate took effect on May 28, 2024.
* Guidance from the Department of Health previously required facility staff to receive training on cultural competency focusing on LGBTQ+ residents or those living with HIV.
* The lawsuit claims that the state law discriminates between religious groups by exempting the Church of Christ, Scientist while denying exemption to Catholic organizations.

Executive Summary

The Department of Justice has joined a lawsuit filed by the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne against New York state concerning gender identity laws in long-term care facilities. The lawsuit challenges a 2024 New York law that requires long-term care facilities to use preferred pronouns and assign rooms based on gender identity. The facility, Rosary Hill, operates a palliative care program for cancer patients.
The suit targets the requirement for facilities to adhere to gender identity preferences, arguing this mandate violates religious freedom and the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause for religious groups. The lawsuit asserts that complying with the state law would require the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs and the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding sex and creation.
The legal action is framed by the plaintiff as a defense of religious exercise, arguing that demanding adherence to a gender identity standard contradicts fundamental Catholic teachings concerning reality, reason, and divine creation. The state law also introduced staff training mandates regarding cultural competency for residents identifying as LGBTQ+ or living with HIV, while discriminating against Catholic organizations in terms of exemption from this training.

Full Take

This situation involves a conflict where civil rights mandates intersect directly with religious freedom and institutional autonomy within a governmental framework. The core pattern observed is the tension between state-level recognition of identity (via gender law) and the protection of deeply held, collective religious beliefs regarding sex and reality.
The narrative positions religious groups not merely as citizens with rights, but as entities whose theological mandates must be balanced against secular legal requirements—creating a dynamic where one group's claim to freedom necessitates restricting another's perceived autonomy. The invocation of "general public importance" by the federal government shifts the dispute from a local institutional issue to a matter of constitutional principle concerning religious minority status and state authority.
The use of specific religious doctrine (Catholic teachings, Scripture) within the legal framework acts as an anchor for resistance, seeking to establish a moral dimension against secular policy. The challenge is not simply about pronoun usage but about whether state-mandated social recognition can be decoupled from theological definitions of reality and identity without infringing upon recognized religious exercise.
Patterns detected: ARC-0043 Motte-and-Bailey, ARC-0024 Ambiguity

Sentinel — Human

Confidence

This text exhibits strong signs of human journalistic writing, characterized by complex legal framing and the integration of highly specific, multi-faceted quotes from various non-governmental sources.

Signals Detected

Varied sentence length and complex legal argumentation interspersed with direct, emotionally resonant quotes.

The text maintains a consistent focus (religious freedom/legal conflict) despite introducing numerous specific details and quotes from disparate parties.

Uses structured attribution for legal and institutional claims (DOJ, law firm, religious orders), characteristic of journalistic sourcing rather than purely LLM output.

Specific dates, named plaintiffs/defendants, and references to specific legal history (14th Amendment, Vatican decrees) suggest grounding in real-world legal events.

Human Indicators

The article successfully weaves together complex legal claims with deeply personal, moral arguments from various stakeholders, demonstrating a sophisticated handling of source material and rhetorical purpose.

The use of specific organizational names (Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne), historical figures (Rose Hawthorne Lathrop), and precise legal references suggests human research and narrative construction rather than generalized synthesis.