"10. Every person has a right to full and equal recognition and exercise of his human rights and freedoms, without distinction, exclusion or preference based on race, colour, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, civil status, age except as provided by law, religion, political convictions, language, ethnic or national origin, social condition, a handicap or the use of any means to palliate a handicap." ₁ [Emphasis ours]

"sexual orientation means having or being perceived as having an emotional, physical or sexual attachment to another person without regard to the sex of that person or having or being perceived as having an orientation for such attachment..." In addition, the act protects transsexuals as: "...having or being perceived as having a self image or identity not traditionally associated with one's biological maleness or femaleness." ₃

Heterosexuals, homosexuals and bisexuals are protected regardless of whether they are celibate or sexually active.

Department of Human Rights supervisor Gary Gorman said that both disability and sexual orientation are

"...treated differently in the Act [from other protected classes]...The Act's sexual orientation provision covers not only those who are gay or lesbian, for example, but also, those who are perceived to be so. 'We've had a number of cases in which a male was perceived as being gay, but the guy was married and had kids and said he wasn't gay,' says 'But if someone is harassed because someone [else] thinks they are gay, or treats them as if they were, if it interferes with their employment, that's discrimination,' Gorman says."

As in many other jurisdictions, religious organizations are allowed limited exemption from this act. They can discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in hiring clergy and other religious staff, in including people as members of the church, and in selecting students for education in church-run facilities . So, for example, they could expel a student who had attended their parochial school for some time and who just revealed that they were gay. But religious groups are not allowed to discriminate in hiring bookkeepers, janitors, and employees for other assignments where the job does not involve religion.

Like all other human rights acts of which we are aware, Minnesota's law does not give gays, lesbians and bisexuals any special privileges. Elaine Hanson commented that many people misunderstand the scope of the law and believe that it "extends some special or extra rights to gay people. That is absolutely not true." It protects persons of all sexual orientations -- heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual -- from discrimination equally.

The state's Department of Human Rights' web site states:

"It surprises some that the department has accepted charges from -- and obtained justice for --- men who have charged gender discrimination, conservative Christians who have been victims of religious harassment, and heterosexuals who have alleged discrimination based on sexual orientation. In one such case, a male employee who worked as an entertainer in a gay bar was fired, allegedly because he was spending time off duty in the company of females. 'It was presumed, therefore, that he must be heterosexual,' Hanson recalls. The department found probable cause to believe the presumed heterosexual employee was a victim of discrimination based on his sexual orientation."

"Blending my analysis of the nature of the interest together with my conclusions regarding the nature of the group affected by the impugned distinction, I am convinced that this distinction is reasonably capable of exacting a discriminatory toll upon the group affected. I would therefore find the impugned distinction to be discriminatory within the meaning of s. 15(1) of the Charter."

In effect, the Court ruled that the term "sexual orientation" was to be "read in" to the Charter. That is, the term was not originally in the Charter. However, after 1995, the Charter is to be interpreted as if the term is in place. ₄