Pride month doesn’t please Jeffrey Little. This California beach lifeguard, who refused to work at a post where an LGBT+ flag was raised, launched a lawsuit against his employers for religious discrimination.
A Los Angeles County employee for more than two decades and an evangelical Christian, he filed suit in federal court on May 24, claiming the flag represented values inconsistent with his beliefs.
A discord dating from June 2023
“The views commonly associated with (the LGBT+ flag) on marriage, sex and family, are in direct conflict with Captain Little’s real and sincerely held religious beliefs,” the complaint states.
Los Angeles County officials last year passed a measure to fly the flag on public buildings during June, the traditional LGBT+ pride month, including at lifeguard stations on beaches.
Jeffrey Little told his superiors last year that he wanted to be exempt from the requirement to fly the flag, and the complaint alleges that his superiors assigned him to beaches where the flag could not be flown. be hoisted. But once he arrived there, the rescuer noticed that three nearby buildings were flying the banner in question.
He then decided to take down all three flags, prompting a response from his superior who gave him direct orders to ensure the flags would be flown throughout Pride Month.
A claim for damages for emotional distress
The lawsuits seek unspecified damages for emotional distress and ask the court to order Los Angeles County to grant an exception to Jeffrey Little so that he does not have to raise the flag.
The rescuer is being defended by lawyers from the Thomas More Society, a conservative legal group whose website claims several lawsuits challenge the rights to abortion and same-sex marriage.