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Ryan Tucker, left and David Cortman, attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom, and Yakima Union Gospel Mission CEO Mike Johnson, right, speak to reporters outside the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Friday, July 19, 2024. They are challenging a Washington state law that bars religious organizations from only hiring workers who share their religious beliefs. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Lawyers for a Christian homeless shelter were in a federal appeals court Friday to challenge a Washington state anti-discrimination law that would require the charity to hire LGBTQ+ people and others who do not share its religious beliefs, including those on sexuality and marriage. Union Gospel Mission in Yakima, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) southeast of Seattle, is asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to revive a lawsuit dismissed by a lower court. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a global legal organization, is assisting the mission. Washington’s Law Against Discrimination prohibits employers with at least eight employees from discriminating based on sexual orientation. Religious organizations are exempt, but the state’s Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that the exemption should only apply to ministerial positions. Yakima’s Union Gospel Mission hires only co-religionists to advance its religious […]