Back in May, when a federal judge first overturned Idaho’s ban on same-sex
marriage, the Hitching Post Chapel in Coeur d’Alene expressed concern about the
possibility of having to marry same-sex couples. The wedding chapel located just
across the street from the Kootenai County Courthouse recognized that it would
be subject to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance, which requires that public
accommodations (like businesses) offer service equally regardless of sexual
orientation. Now that marriage equality is the law in Idaho, the Hitching Post
owners Donald and Evelyn Knapp have filed a federal lawsuit for the right to
discriminate.
At the time, Coeur d’Alene City Attorney Warren Wilson explained, “If you
turn away a gay couple, refuse to provide services for them, then in theory you
violated our code and you’re looking at a potential misdemeanor citation.”Wilson
clarified that religious entities are exempt under the city ordinance, but
apparently told Mr. Knapp at the time that the Hitching Post was not exempt
because it is a business, not a religious corporation like a church. As same-sex
couples began marrying last week, the Hitching Post did apparently turn away a
same-sex couple.
Though they have not yet been found in violation of the ordinance, the Knapps
have filed a complaint and motion for a temporary restraining order against the
policy. They are represented by the anti-LGBT Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)
and allege that they are now under “a constant, coercive, and substantial threat
to violate their religious beliefs due to the risk that they will incur the
penalties of jail time and criminal fines” for refusing to offer wedding
services to same-sex couples.
The complaint suggests that because the city will only prosecute businesses
who oppose same-sex marriages, it constitutes “rank viewpoint discrimination.”
They seek to have the law declared unconstitutional, at least as applied to
them, for violating their rights to freedom of speech, freedom of religion,
equal protection under the law, and due process of law. As ordained ministers
with the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, they worry that they
risk discipline from the Church if they perform a wedding not sanctioned by
their beliefs. The Knapps also ask for “nominal and compensatory damages” for
the violation of their constitutional rights and for lost income.
Indeed, the Hitching Post is a for-profit business, but with help from ADF,
the Knapps have been gearing up for this challenge for some time by redefining
their business in more religious terms. In fact, Hitching Post completely
reincorporated with an entirely new business certificate just last month, which
was authorized by Michael S. Oswald, an ADF attorney. Along with the new
business was a new Operating Agreement, dated October 6, 2014, which enshrines
all of the religious values offered in the complaint as part of the business.
They similarly added a new Employee Policy and Customer Agreement stipulating
that the Hitching Post will only perform unions “between one biological male and
one biological female.”
Jeremy Hooper notes that back in May when it was first in the news, the
Hitching Post Chapel’s website said that the Knapps offered a “traditional or
civil ceremony” for weddings and that they also would “perform wedding
ceremonies of other faiths.” Though the website still said as much as recently
as October 9, 2014, the old language has been scrubbed and the Hitching Post now
only offers “a traditional Christian wedding ceremony.”
As for different-sex couples of other faiths, the new Employee Policy vaguely
explains that “Hitching Post owners and employees will perform ceremonies for
those of different faiths and religious beliefs (so long as those marriage
ceremonies are consistent with the beliefs set forth herein) because marriage is
a common grace and creational gift bestowed by God upon all humans for the
benefit of human society.” This seems to suggest that it would not be a
violation of their religious beliefs to perform non-Christian marriages so long
as they don’t perform same-sex marriages — even Christian ones.
The city’s ordinance does provide an exemption for “religious corporations,”
but the Hitching Post is not run by a church. ADF’s complaint does not claim
that it is such a corporation, but argues that because the exemption is “broad”
and exists for churches and church-run corporations, “the City has no legitimate
basis for refusing to extend a religious exemption to the Knapps who are
Christian ministers engaged in a religious function.” Nevertheless, the Knapps
are still running a for-profit business that is providing a service (weddings)
to one group of people and not to others that discriminates on the basis of
sexual orientation in conflict with the ordinance. Conservatives are already
conflating the two in this case to suggest that LGBT rights are forcing
ministers to compromise their beliefs.
The Knapps’ case is ADF’s second volley in the “religious freedom” vs. LGBT
equality fight in as many weeks. The suit filed by the Houston, Texas
pastorschallenging subpoenas about their role in the petition effort to overturn
a nondiscrimination ordinance there is also an ADF case. Given the numerous
cases of bakers, florists, and photographers refusing services for same-sex
couples’ weddings that have already been playing out and the new surge of legal
marriage equality across the country, more of these conflicts are likely to
arise. Several of Las Vegas’ elope emporiums, including The Elvis Wedding
Chapel, are also refusing to marry same-sex couples.
