New York Threatens to Throw Catholic Nuns in Jail for Not “Affirming” Transgender Ideology

Photo Credit | Institute of Religious Life

For 125 years, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne have provided free care to patients with terminal cancer in upstate New York. But now, thanks to a new law which enjoyed a shameful amount of bipartisan support, the sisters could be facing jail time for refusing to “affirm” patients who believe they are transgender – despite the fact that doing so would violate core Catholic teachings.

The assault on the sisters’ First Amendment rights began back in 2023 when Empire State Democrats introduced something called the “Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights for LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers and People Living with HIV.” Governor Kathy Hochul signed the bill into law, and it went into effect in May 2024.

Although Democrat legislators spearheaded the bill, New York Republicans barely raised any opposition to it, and dozens of GOP members appallingly voted for it. The final tally was 144-2 in favor in the Assembly and 55-7 in favor in the Senate. It received hardly any media coverage at the time.

Supporters of the law claim that it prohibits “discrimination” against individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ in nursing homes and adult care facilities. In reality, it criminalizes dissent against transgender ideology, trampling the religious liberty and free speech rights of Christians and other religious New Yorkers.

Under one provision of the law, workers are now required to use a new 57-page curriculum as a guide for how to treat patients. According to The New York Post, the curriculum instructs caretakers “to not make assumptions about a patient’s identity: ‘Ask open-ended questions to help you better understand how they self-identify.’” Another section reportedly “stresses the importance of pronouns and how they help to ‘affirm’ identities” and even urges workers “to share their pronouns.”

Violations can result in fines, loss of licensing and, ultimately, jail time. Even for the first violation – which could be for something as basic as not allowing a male to share a bathroom with a female – fines start at $2,000.

Now, the New York state government appears to be setting out to make an example of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who operate the 42-bed Rosary Hill Home.

According to the National Catholic Register, state officials have sent the sisters three letters which included warnings about “refusing to assign a room to a resident other than in accordance with the resident’s gender identity”; “prohibiting a resident from using a restroom available to other persons of the same gender identity”; and “willfully and repeatedly failing to use a resident’s preferred name or pronouns after being clearly informed of the preferred name or pronouns.”

The New York Department of Health also says nursing homes must “accommodate patients’ desire for extramarital relations” – another blatant violation of Catholic belief.

In response, the sisters filed a lawsuit against the state earlier this month. The suit alleges that New York is violating the sisters’ First Amendment rights by requiring them to allow “patients to use whatever restroom they prefer, even if their roommates object,” and mandating that staff “always refer to patients using their preferred pronouns, even if the patient is not present,” according to National Review. Caretakers are additionally required to undergo so-called “cultural competency training,” which is another form of DEI.

Notably, the threats from the state against the nuns at Rosary Hill come despite a perfect track record; the Department of Health has “issued zero citations,” against the nursing home in the past five years, according to the lawsuit.

“This is in contrast to a typical nursing home,” attorneys for the sisters argued. “Over the same time period, New York has received more than 55,000 complaints against other nursing homes and has issued an average of 23 citations to each nursing home in the state.”

The nuns accept no government funding and do not charge for their services – a heroic act of generosity considering nursing home costs run around $300 per day per patient and are often much higher when caring for the sickest patients.

“We Sisters have taken care of patients from all walks of life, ideologies, and faiths,” Mother Marie, general superior of the Hawthorne Dominicans, explained. “We treat each patient with dignity and Christian charity. We have never had complaints.” However, she added, “We cannot implement New York’s mandate without violating our Catholic faith.”

The sisters have filed for a religious exemption to the law – but have heard nothing back from the state. (The Church of Christ, Scientist, however, has notably received an exemption.)

New York’s attack on the Sisters of Hawthorne is yet another example of the emptiness of left-wing rhetoric about “kindness” and “compassion.” Rosary Hill Home is full of women humbly displaying the love of Christ by providing free care to the sick and elderly. Yet bureaucrats in Albany treat them as the enemy because they adhere to a biblical worldview – and because they understand that the true meaning of dignity is to help people live their lives according to God’s purpose for humanity.

The nuns’ plight is also yet another poignant reminder that while the cultural battle against transgender ideology has faded from the headlines, it is far from over. In states like New York, Christians are still persecuted for their faith.

Finally, this entire shameful episode is further evidence that Democrats remain the party of anti-religious and particularly anti-Christian extremism. While some Democrats have attempted to win back Christian voters in recent years, the Sisters of Hawthorne are a reminder that ultimately, Democrats want to water down and then erase Christian belief from public life.

Matt Lamb is an AMAC Newsline contributor and associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.