In 1987 the Twin Cities Archdiocese informed a group called “Dignity” that it could no longer lease space in the church-run Newman Center on the University of Minnesota campus.

Dignity is a national organization of gay and lesbian Catholics. The Twin Cities chapter used space at the Newman Center for worship services and other meetings. Dignity paid $150 a month to rent the space and the group’s attorney, Elizabeth Pearce, says that makes the church a landlord. But church leaders say this is an internal dispute. They say the separation of church and state dictated in the U.S. Constitution prohibit officials from ruling in this case. The Archdiocese last night asked the Civil Rights Commission to dismiss the case on those grounds but the three member panel denied the request.