Christian Fire Dept. Worker Sues County Over Revoked Religious Exemption, Forced Pride Flag Display

It wasn’t so long ago when Christians were told that they were fear-mongering when they worried about being forced to participate or perform behaviors that went against their faith when dealing with the LGBT community and their demands for attention.

Christians were told that the LGBT community just wanted equal rights to live their life and that any attempt to talk about that “slippery slope” was nothing more than alarmist fear mongering.

But the slope that sane people were worried about has become a sheer drop, and if you live in California, you are probably already in quite the free fall.

A veteran captain with the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s lifeguard division has filed a federal lawsuit against the county over its policy requiring him to raise the “Progress Pride” flag during LGBT Pride month, according to Newsweek.

The lawsuit comes just before LGBT “Pride Month” in June when many cities will be displaying flags on government buildings, presumably to celebrate the sexual preferences of a group of individuals.

The Progress Pride Flag, first introduced in 2018 by artist Daniel Quasar, builds upon the traditional rainbow Pride flag design.

Apparently, one flag for the LGBT community wasn’t enough.

The upgraded flag incorporates additional chevron stripes in white, pink, and light blue to represent the transgender community, as well as black and brown stripes to symbolize LGBTQ+ individuals of color.

Newsweek reports that Captain Jeffrey Little says the mandate to raise these types of flags violates his constitutional rights and amounts to religious discrimination.

According to the complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court, Captain Jeffrey Little, who is an evangelical Christian, initially received a religious accommodation in June 2023, exempting him from having to raise the “pride” flag based on his beliefs regarding marriage and sexuality.

However, the lawsuit states the accommodation was abruptly rescinded just two days later. It alleges that the department modified flagpoles at Little’s assigned Dockweiler beach worksite on June 21st to allow the “pride” flags to be raised, despite previously telling him that location would not be subject to the policy.

When Little reported for his shift that morning, he took down the newly raised “pride” flags between 11:30 am and 2:30 pm with approval from staff. But around 2:45  pm, the complaint states he was informed his accommodation had been revoked, and a supervisor directly ordered him to re-raise the flags in an ” abusive, inappropriate, harassing, and discriminatory” manner motivated by “animus toward Captain Little’s religious beliefs,” according to the suit, which was acquired by Fire Law Blog.

Two days later, the division chief allegedly hand-delivered a “Direct Order” to Little to fly the flag, telling him, “You are an LA County employee; that’s the only thing that matters,” and “Your religious beliefs do not matter; you are an LA County employee,” in what Little described as a “physically intimidating” way, given the chief’s 6-foot-4, 220-pound stature.

The nine-count lawsuit accuses the county of religious creed discrimination, retaliation, free speech violations, and failing to prevent harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and the U.S. and state constitutions.

The complaint argues that the messages and views represented by the LGBT flag directly conflict with Captain Jeffrey Little’s “bona fide and sincerely held religious beliefs” on related subjects like marriage and sexuality.

“While Captain Little understands that the government can speak its own messages, and thus may promote Pride Month, he believes that he cannot personally do so by raising the Progress Pride Flag,”  the complaint states.

“Doing so would be to personally participate in, espouse, and promote messages contrary to his sincerely held religious beliefs, similar to how many courts have recognized that Jehovah’s Witnesses may not salute or pledge allegiance to the flag of any nation or state,” it continues.

The complaint adds that even though Little had asked for accommodations ahead of “Pride Month” so that he would not be asked to raise the flag, the department has not “substantively engaged” with him, Newsweek stated.

One of Little’s attorneys stated in a press release, “In our great country, Americans can’t even be forced to salute the American flag as a condition of government employment. Yet, in this case, the L.A. County Fire Department seeks to force Captain Little to personally raise the Progress Pride Flag in violation of his sincere and deeply held religious beliefs—or face termination.”

As a government entity, Los Angeles County is bound by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits government actions that unduly favor or disfavor any particular religion over others.

Government offices and agencies frequently make accommodations and provisions for employees’ religious beliefs and practices – whether it’s allowing time/space for Muslim prayers, modifying uniforms for specific religions, leave for holy days and more. This is an acknowledgment that the government must respect religious free exercise rights.

So then, why are Christians always exempted from these considerations?

If Los Angeles County has made accommodations for other religions, which you can bet your bottom dollar it has, then they have an even more stringent duty to ensure that Little is treated with the same respect.

The case will play out in the courts, but it’s just one more example of the government putting Christian religious freedom below its agenda, and unlike most in California who have long reached the bottom of the slope when it comes to the erosion of their First Amendment rights, Little should be commended for standing his ground.