Louisiana pastor fired from job at library after refusing to use person’s preferred pronouns

A Louisiana pastor said he was fired from the East Baton Rouge Parish Library after he refused to use a woman’s preferred pronouns.

Pastor Luke Ash said he was fired over a conversation on July 7 after working as a technician at the library for less than six months. Ash is the lead pastor of Stevendale Baptist Church in Baton Rouge.

‘That co-worker corrected me, said that the person she was training preferred to be called ‘he,’ and I refused to use those preferred pronouns.’

Ash described the events in an interview with Tony Perkins on his show, “Washington Watch.”

“I was in a conversation with a co-worker about someone that she was training, and I did not use preferred pronouns in that conversation,” Ash said.

“That co-worker corrected me, said that the person she was training preferred to be called ‘he,’ and I refused to use those preferred pronouns,” he continued. “The next day, I was reprimanded by my supervisor and the head of reference, and Thursday morning, I was fired.”

He said they gave him the option to use the person’s incorrect biological pronouns but that he refused.

“I am not going to lie,” Ash said. “I cannot do it.”

He went on to admit that he knew he was in violation of the library’s code of conduct but that he was asserting his religious convictions.

“I believe that there are … religious convictions and then there are other kinds of convictions, and when those things are in contradiction with one another, there has to be given preference to one or the other,” he said to WBRZ-TV.

“I refuse to say anything that is not true, because of my religious convictions,” he added.

RELATED: Teacher fired for refusing to use student’s preferred pronouns secures religious freedom victory

Forum for Equality board member Logan Wolf told WBRZ that using someone’s preferred pronouns was simple decency and accused Ash of inventing his grievance.

“He’s doing this because he wants to be aggrieved, instead of actually being aggrieved, and it’s just not right,” Wolf said.

The pastor said he is considering his next step in the case.

Blaze News has reached out to several officials at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library for comment, but none responded by time of publishing.

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