Religious Freedom Law Protects Business Owner Who Fired Trans Woman, Judge Rules
The businessman says allowing one of his employees to express her gender identity "would be violating God’s commands." Religious freedom is a valid defense for a Michigan business owner who fired a trans woman after she asked to dress in accordance with her gender identity, a federal judge ruled Thursday. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces federal anti-discrimination laws, had sued the business, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, after it fired its funeral director, Amiee Stephens, a transgender woman who was undergoing transition. Stephens, who had worked at the funeral home for six years and was known as Anthony Stephens until 2013, was fired after she sent a letter to her boss and coworkers announcing that she had gender dysphoria and was undergoing treatment, with plans for sex reassignment surgery at a later date. “The first step I must take is to live and work full-time as a woman for one year,” she told coworkers. “At the end of my vaca