East Lansing, Ill, Tuesday, December 12, 2017-(TerraUS, mhUSA)-
A Michigan farmer, barred from selling at an open-air market in a nearby city after refusing to let a gay couple get married on his property, is suing the city.

Steve Tennes, who owns Country Mill farms, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging that East Lansing is excluding him from its farmers market because of his Christian belief that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

Tennes, who is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian nonprofit that litigates for religious freedom, says that initially the city unsuccessfully attempted to exclude him from last year ' s farmers market on grounds that his beliefs on marriage violated a city human rights ordinance.

He told the News outlet that in a letter last year telling him not to participate in the farmers market, the city specifically mentioned a comment Tennes made on his farm ' s Facebook page expressing his views on same-sex marriage.

But that effort was unsuccessful and Tennes participated in the market last year. This year, however, the city broadened its non-discrimination ordinance that requires anyone seeking to do business in East Lansing to not discriminate against same-sex couples. It then advised Tennes that he was not welcome to sell in East Lansing.

"All Steve wants to do is sell his food to anyone who wants to buy it, but the city isn ' t letting him," ADF attorney Kate Anderson said. "People of faith, like the Tennes family, should be free to live and work according to their deeply held beliefs without fear of losing their livelihood. If the government can shut down a family farmer just because of the religious views he expresses on Facebook - by denying him a license to do business and serve fresh produce to all people - then no American is free."




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