Overview

• Luke Ash, a technician and lead pastor at Stevendale Baptist Church, was terminated after refusing on July 7 to use a coworker’s preferred pronouns under the library’s inclusivity code of conduct.
• The BatoBaton Rouge Parish Library policy explicitly requires staff to address colleagues by their chosen pronouns as part of its nondiscrimination rules.
• Ash told media outlets that his refusal stemmed from religious convictions and that he declined an offered accommodation to reconcile the conflict.
• Forum for Equality and other LGBTQ+ advocates call pronoun protections basic workplace decency and religious freedom proponents warn policy enforcement could infringe personal beliefs.
• It is unclear whether Ash will pursue a lawsuit, and the episode has fed into national discussions over balancing anti-discrimination measures with religious liberties in public institutions.