Michigan market bans Catholic farmer for objecting to same-sex marriage

A city in Michigan has reportedly prohibited a Catholic man from selling his produce at the farmers market because of his objection to same-sex marriage.

Stephen Tennes, the owner of Country Mill Farms, has been banned from selling his fruits and produce at the farmers market in East Lansing, Michigan, after city officials found out about his Facebook post, in which he expressed his views that "marriage is a sacramental union between one man and one woman."

In the Facebook message posted last year, Tennes stated that his farm would not host same-sex weddings because of his family's Catholic beliefs.

The farmer claimed that the city officials "strongly and immediately pressured" him not to return to the market after they learned about the Facebook post.

On Wednesday, Tennes filed a lawsuit against the city at a federal court, seeking his reinstatement at the market.

According to Michigan Radio, the city changed its farmers market vendor agreement this year requiring the vendors to agree to and comply with East Lansing's Human Relations Ordinance, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.

The city of East Lansing has issued a statement, saying the farmer's refusal to host a same-sex wedding violated a "long-standing ordinance that protects sexual orientation as well as the Supreme Court's ruling that grants the right for same-sex couples to be married."

In the lawsuit, Tennes is seeking damages as well as the reversal of the city policy requiring the vendors to agree to the ordinance.

"The government should never force its citizens to choose between following their deepest convictions and earning a living," said attorney Kate Anderson, with the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian-based nonprofit legal organization representing Tennes.

The Stream reported that Tennes turned down a lesbian couple who sought to be married in a wedding ceremony at Country Mill in 2014, before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 2015 ruling in the in Obergefell v. Hodges case that legalized same-sex marriage across the country.

The lawsuit noted that Tennes had a "civil" discussion with the women, and he had referred them to an orchard that held same-sex weddings.

The ADF has maintained that Tennes' religious views have no bearing on his involvement in the market and that the city's actions amounted to a violation of the First Amendment.

"Steve and his farm have been singled out and excluded from full participation in the life of the community for only one reason," Anderson said. "Steve expressed a viewpoint the city did not like," she added.