By staff, based on a news release by Liberty Counsel
BATON ROUGE, LA – Liberty Counsel, a Christian ministry that engages in strategic litigation to promote evangelical Christian values, sent a demand letter, Oct. 17, to the East Baton Rouge Parish Library on behalf of Luke Ash, a bivocational pastor with Stevendale Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, who was unlawfully fired from his job as a library services technician for refusing to use false pronouns for a female colleague.
The letter denounced Ash’s termination, a result of his refusal to compromise his religious beliefs about human sexuality, as a violation of the Louisiana Constitution, the Louisiana Protection of Religious Freedom Act, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Liberty Counsel requested the library to reinstate Ash with backpay and revise its pronoun policy to respect the religious free exercise rights of all employees, setting a response deadline of Nov. 10.
In the letter, Liberty Counsel explained that the library’s “inclusivity policy” — that employees have a “right” to choose their pronouns — essentially mandates radical gender ideology and unconstitutionally compels employees to mouth their support in acceptance. They noted that Ash’s sincerely held religious beliefs about God’s design for human sexuality prevent him from believing that a female worker is a man regardless of how she wishes to identify herself and compel him to be truthful.
“Mr. Ash’s faith requires him to tell the truth and not lie,” the letter stated. “His understanding of biology and faith requires him to use pronouns consistent with biological sex, because to do otherwise would cause him to lie. Mr. Ash believes speaking such lies would be harmful to others who hear the lies, particularly a person who is uncomfortable with his or her natal sex.”
In earlier statements to the Baptist Message, Ash explained that a coworker, who was training a new female hire, attempted to force Ash to refer to the trainee as a “he.” Ash did not speak in the presence of the trainee.
Ash was subsequently reprimanded by three other EBRPL employees “for not upholding the library’s inclusivity policy by refusing to use preferred pronouns,” and was told that “upper management” would decide “how the library would proceed.” He was terminated the next day.
Liberty Counsel’s letter contends that, under the First Amendment, the state “may not compel affirmance of a belief with which the speaker disagrees.” It also notes that both the First Amendment and the Louisiana Constitution recognize and protect “religion” and religious “free exercise,” concluding that the library’s “inclusion policy” does not supersede these protections which are afforded Ash.
“[The] Library has no compelling government interest in requiring employees to speak pronouns that do not accurately reflect biological sex, when employees are not required to speak at all; nor in requiring employees to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs,” wrote Liberty Counsel.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The East Baton Rouge Parish Library acted unlawfully in firing Pastor Luke Ash for the U.S. Constitution and Louisiana law protect his right to uphold his beliefs and refuse false pronouns. The library also violated Title VII for not even considering a religious accommodation for Pastor Ash. There is no compelling interest in requiring Pastor Ash to lie or affirm false sex-based pronouns. Employers cannot force people to choose between their faith and their livelihood. The library has a chance to reinstate Pastor Ash and rectify this potentially costly mistake.”
