Liberty Counsel sent a demand letter to the East Baton Rouge Parish Library on behalf of bi-vocational Pastor Luke Ash who was unlawfully fired from his job as a library services technician for refusing to use false pronouns for a female colleague. Pastor Ash’s termination for upholding his religious beliefs about human sexuality violates 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 requests the library reinstate Pastor Ash with backpay and revise its pronoun policy to respect the religious free exercise rights of all employees. Liberty Counsel sent the letter on October 17, 2025, requesting a response by November 10.

The library’s “inclusivity policy” purports that employees have a “right” to choose their pronouns, which essentially mandates radical gender ideology and unconstitutionally compels employees to mouth their support in acceptance. However, Pastor Ash’s sincere religious beliefs that “gender identity” is inconsistent with God’s design for human sexuality prevent him from believing that a female worker is a man regardless of how she wishes to identify. As a Christian minister, he must speak truth and believes lying would cause harm to others, especially those experiencing gender confusion. When his library supervisors showed him the policy, Pastor Ash told them he was not going to lie. Shortly thereafter, Pastor Ash was fired according to the “inclusivity policy.” Since then, the library has indicated Pastor Ash was a probationary employee and was fired for a number of “infractions,” yet he was never written up for any misconduct. The library also made no attempt to accommodate his religious beliefs as required by Title VII law.

As Liberty Counsel’s letter states, under the First Amendment the state “may not compel affirmance of a belief with which the speaker disagrees.” Additionally, both the First Amendment and the Louisiana Constitution recognize and protect “religion” and religious “free exercise.” The library’s “inclusion policy” does not supersede these protections which afford Pastor Ash the freedom to speak or not speak at all, but when he must speak, that he has the right to affirm his beliefs.

“[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.”