Luke Ash, a full-time library technician who also serves as a pastor in Baton Rouge, says his employer fired him rather than accommodate his Christian beliefs about sex and pronouns. His federal lawsuit exposes the growing cost of telling the truth in government workplaces.
On July 9, Liberty Counsel filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Baton Rouge and the East Baton Rouge Parish Library system on behalf of a library technician who was allegedly terminated for refusing to use preferred gender pronouns that conflicted with his Christian beliefs.
The complaint, which also names the Metropolitan Council and the Library Board of Control, contends that the library’s “Inclusivity Policy” violates the First Amendment and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by forcing employees to engage in compelled speech and denying reasonable religious accommodations.
The plaintiff is Luke Ash, the lead pastor of Stevendale Baptist Church. Like many pastors of smaller churches, he also worked a full-time day job to support himself and his family while serving his congregation during evenings and weekends. In March 2025, he took a job as a library technician for the East Baton Rouge Parish Library and worked there without incident — until he was abruptly terminated from his position.
His offense? Respectfully refusing to lie by using false, gender-deluded pronouns to refer to a biological female coworker.
For American evangelical Christians, this is yet another crucial moment that exposes the dangerous, hostile nature of gender ideology. When the government demands that Christians speak lies that violate God’s truth, it is time for the Church to stand up and say: We will not bow.
The Demands of Gender Ideology
The facts of the case are clear and alarming. In July 2025, a coworker asked Pastor Ash to use male pronouns when referring to a biological female trainee. As a minister committed to the truth of God’s Word, he answered in accordance with biblical theology and physical reality.
Scripture teaches us that God created humanity male and female (Genesis 1:27) and that biological sex is an immutable, physical reality designed by the Creator. Pastor Ash understood that to refer to a biological female as a male would not be an act of “compassion”; it would be a flat-out lie.
Soon, library supervisors intervened. They pointed to the library’s “Inclusivity Policy,” which states that “all employees have the right to be addressed by their chosen name and pronouns.”
The library asserted that the trainee’s personal preferences trumped both biological science and the pastor’s deeply held religious convictions.
When Pastor Ash rightly asked for a reasonable religious accommodation under federal law, his supervisors refused. Instead, on July 10, 2025, they fired him, explicitly telling him that his Christian beliefs were “incompatible” with his library employment.
In other words, a public institution, funded by taxpayer dollars, has openly declared that holding to basic, biblical truths about male and female biology makes an American citizen unfit for public employment.
The Tyranny of Compelled Speech
This hostile action strikes at the core of the First Amendment. For decades, the Supreme Court of the United States has held that the government cannot force its citizens to echo state-approved viewpoints, most recently in the landmark cases of 303 Creative v. Elenis and Chiles v. Salazar. The right to free speech inherently includes the right to refrain from uttering words that violate your conscience.
And that’s exactly what the East Baton Rouge Parish Library attempted to enforce: compelled speech. As Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver stated:
“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 also violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to Staver. Under federal law, employers are required to engage in an interactive process to identify reasonable religious accommodations for their employees.
Pastor Ash’s lawsuit points out that the library did not even attempt to follow the law. They did not offer to let him use the trainee’s legal name instead of pronouns. They did not seek a middle ground. They wanted complete ideological submission. When they did not get it, they terminated his employment.
Redemptive Legislation and the Call to Action
Pastor Ash’s unjust firing has led to historic legislative action in Louisiana. On recognizing that state law did not protect employees from being compelled to use pronouns inconsistent with a person’s biological sex, Louisiana lawmakers passed Act 579 to provide those protections.
This new law, which goes into effect on August 1, 2026, explicitly prohibits state employers from forcing employees to use false “gender identity” pronouns as a condition of their employment.
Act 579 stands as a model for the rest of the nation, declaring:
“An employee shall not be required, as a condition of employment, to address another employee or any other person by a name other than the person’s legal name… or to use pronouns, salutations, titles, or honorifics inconsistent with the other employee’s or person’s sex.”
While the new law will protect workers going forward, it does not apply retroactively to Pastor Ash. That is why this federal lawsuit is so critical. Liberty Counsel’s suit seeks a permanent injunction declaring the library’s policy unconstitutional, along with Pastor Ash’s full reinstatement, back pay, and damages.
As Christians, and as freedom-loving Americans, we cannot sit idly on the sidelines of this battle. Like countless pastors who faithfully shepherd smaller congregations while working full-time jobs to support their families, Luke Ash worked a regular job to help provide for his wife and children while dedicating his evenings, weekends, and heart to serving his church. When forced to choose between his livelihood and his biblical convictions, he put his family’s financial stability on the line rather than compromise the truth of God’s Word.
The Church must wake up to the reality that the war for religious liberty isn’t just about whether they can share the Gospel with others. It also involves ensuring that a Christian can teach in a public school or at a university, serve as a nurse, or work in a public library without being forced to lie.
Christians must follow the lead of brave Christians like Pastor Ash who refuse to compromise their beliefs, support legal organizations like Liberty Counsel, and demand that our local and national leaders pass legal protections that ensure no American is ever again forced to choose between their faith and their livelihood.
Every courageous stand for truth begins with someone who refuses to bow—and with others willing to stand beside him. Your tax-deductible gift helps the Standing for Freedom Center expose threats to Christian conscience, defend biblical truth in the public square, and equip believers to remain faithful when culture demands compromise. Give today and help keep the light of truth shining for the next person called to stand.
