A library fired a pastor for misgendering his co-worker...

[Jessica_Rose]

A library fired a pastor for misgendering his co-worker. Now he's trying to bankrupt it.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-library-fired-a-pastor-for-misgendering-his-co-worker-now-he-s-trying-to-bankrupt-it/ar-AA1J12QQ?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=8cb4ee8abea94c9ea011dd4a38aa5dcc&ei=86

Story by Daniel Villarreal (21 July 2025)

Luke Ash, a southern Baptist pastor, was recently fired from his technician job at Louisiana's East Baton Rouge (EBR) Parish Library after he repeatedly misgendered his coworker. Now he's claiming that he was fired for his religious beliefs...

Ash recently told Tony Perkins, leader of the anti-LGBTQ+ hate group the Family Research Council, that on July 7, he misgendered someone who uses male pronouns. "I refused to use those preferred pronouns," Ash said. "The next day, I was reprimanded by my supervisor and the head of reference, and Thursday morning, I was fired."

On July 8, his manager gave him a copy of the library's inclusivity policy, which says that the library is a place where everyone is "welcomed, accepted, and respected," and that everyone has the right to be addressed by their pronouns, blogger Hemant Mehta reported.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry also wrote via social media, "Louisianans should never lose their job because they refuse to lie! Louisiana is the real world, and in the real world, preferred pronouns don't exist— only biological ones!"

Landry made his comment on a re-post from the anti-LGBTQ+ account Libs of TikTok, which is run by Chaya Raichik.

Logan Wolf — a board member at Forum for Equality, Louisiana's LGBTQ+ human rights organization — told WBRZ, "You just have to treat someone with basic decency, and I think that's at the crux here."