Farmer Sues City for Discriminating Against Him Over His Christian Stand on Marriage
An organic farmer in Michigan is suing East Lansing for barring his business from selling at an open-air market over his views on same-sex marriage. Stephen Tennes filed a lawsuit against the city for enacting a policy that discriminates against his religion's view of marital union.
The problem began when Tennes refused to book marriage ceremonies for two lesbian couples in his family's orchard in Charlotte, which sits 22 miles outside city limits. He also posted on Facebook his Catholic belief that marriage is a sacramental union between one man and one woman.
After selling in the market for six years, Tennes' business, Country Mills Farms, was banned. Officials pressured him to change his mind, citing the East Lansing's non-discrimination ordinance.They "strongly and immediately pressured us not to return to the farmers market," he lamented.
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Mayor Mark Meadows confirmed the allegations, saying Tennes violated a "long-standing ordinance that protects sexual orientation as well as the Supreme Court's ruling that grants the right for same-sex couples to be married." He said: "This is about them operating a business that discriminates against LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) individuals."
But the organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Christian-based nonprofit legally representing Tennes said their client's religious views should have no bearing on his business. They added that the city violated his First Amendment rights, especially so since he doesn't discriminate on his customers' sexual orientation.
ADF also accused the city of violating the Constitution's guarantees of free speech, freedom of religion, and equal protection. "If the government can shut down a family farmer just because of the religious views he expresses on Facebook—by denying him a license to do business and serve fresh produce to all people—then no American is free," ADF Legal Counsel Kate Anderson said.
Aside from demanding nominal and compensatory damages, Anderson also pleads the federal court to restore the constitutionally protected freedoms of her client's 40-year-old business and declare unlawful and unconstitutional the city's discriminatory policy.
