U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney of the Western District of Michigan recently ruled in favor of a fruit farmer from Michigan who had been denied a spot in a local farmer’s market due to his refusal to allow same-sex wedding ceremonies on his property. The case, officially titled Country Mill Farms v. City of East Lansing, centered around the exclusion of Steve Tennes, the owner of Country Mills Farms, from the East Lansing Farmer’s Market.
Tennes, who rented a portion of his farm for weddings, cited his religious beliefs as the reason for not allowing same-sex wedding ceremonies. East Lansing argued that this policy violated its vendor guidelines, leading to the denial of Tennes’s permit to participate in the farmers market.
In his ruling, Judge Maloney stated that the city of East Lansing had used an improper set of individual assessments to exclude Tennes, asserting that, “The City’s decision to exclude Country Mill Farms from the 2017 East Lansing Farmer’s Market constituted a burden on Plaintiffs’ religious beliefs. Plaintiffs were forced to choose between following their religious beliefs and a government benefit for which they were otherwise qualified.”
Steve Tennes was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative legal group specializing in cases involving the First Amendment and parental rights. It’s worth noting that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has accused ADF of being a hate group.
In response to the court’s decision, ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson stated, “The district court’s decision rightly protects Steve’s freedom to operate his business according to his convictions.”
As the dust settles on this legal battle, East Lansing is contemplating whether to appeal the decision, leaving questions about the intersection of religious beliefs, discrimination, and public services in the spotlight.
