There is a new law in Coeurd’alene Idaho that states that Christian pastors who refuse to perform same-sex marriages will face jail time and fines.
This legal battled stems from Pastors Donald and Evelyn Knapp who totally oppose same-sex marriage own the Hitching Post, a local wedding chapel.
The ADF (Alliance Defending Freedom) attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of the pastors.
Coeurd’alene city officials say its non-discrimination ordinance requires them to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies because the courts have overridden Idaho’s voter-approved constitutional amendment that affirmed marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
However, in a statement ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco said “The government should not force ordained ministers to act contrary to their faith under threat of jail time and criminal fines,”.
“Many have denied that pastors would ever be forced to perform ceremonies that are completely at odds with their faith, but that’s what is happening here — and it’s happened this quickly,” Tedesco added. “The city is on seriously flawed legal ground, and our lawsuit intends to ensure that this couple’s freedom to adhere to their own faith as pastors is protected just as the First Amendment intended.”
