Fired Antigay Clerk in Indiana Sues for 'Religious Discrimination'

A former county clerk in southern Indiana who was fired for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples has filed a federal lawsuit claiming religious discrimination, reports The Indianapolis Star. Linda Summers, a former Harrison Superior Court clerk's office employee, was terminated last December for refusing to do her job.

Shortly after marriage equality came to Indiana in October of last year, Harrison County Clerk Sally Whitis sent an email to all employees reminding them that state law requires them to process marriage license applications, no matter what they think about same-sex marriage.

When a gay couple came to the office to apply in December, Summers refused to process the application and instead submitted a letter to Whitis asking for "religious accommodations." She was fired for "insubordination" shortly after giving her boss her letter.

"The foregoing discharge occurred without any attempt by the Defendant to accommodate Plaintiff and her religious beliefs," the complaint read, "despite the fact that Plaintiff made her sincerely-held beliefs known to Defendant Whitis; requested a reasonable accommodation; and that Section 1.4 of the Harrison County Personnel Policies Handbook provides, in relevant part that, 'It is the policy of the County of Harrison to provide equal employment opportunity in employment to all employees ... and to prohibit discrimination in employment because of race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin ..."

The complaint states that Summers "has a sincerely held religious belief, based upon the [tenets] of her faith and biblical teaching, such as Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:26-27, 1 Cor. 6:9-10; and 1 Tim. 1:9-10, that it is a sin for persons of the same sex to engage in sexual relations ..." Leviticus is the chapter of the Christian Bible that says gays and lesbians should be stoned to death.

The case has been filed in federal court as a "generic First Amendment case" according to Summers's attorney. It is not a test of Indiana's new "religious freedom" law.