![\"Stephen](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Stephen-Tennes-farmer-michigan.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nA Michigan man<\/a> says\u00a0he was banned from an outdoor farmer\u2019s market after he refused to\u00a0allow gay<\/a> couples<\/a> to get married on his property.<\/span><\/p>\n Represented by anti-gay<\/a> litigation group Alliance Defending Freedom<\/a> [ADF], apple grower Stephen Tennes filed a lawsuit against the city of East Lansing on Wednesday. According to the city, Tennes was not invited back to the <\/span>farmer\u2019s market<\/b><\/a> because vendors must follow a civil rights ordinance banning discrimination.<\/span><\/p>\n However, <\/span>Country Mill Farms<\/b><\/a> owner Tennes says that the ordinance violates his rights to free speech and religion.<\/span><\/p>\n Fox Business<\/b><\/a> reports:<\/span><\/p>\n Tennes\u2019 farm, 22 miles away from East Lansing in Eaton County, is a popular place to have weddings. In a Facebook post in December, he said he believes in heterosexual marriage and reserves the right to reject weddings that conflict with his beliefs.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf the government can shut down a family farmer just because of the religious views he expresses on Facebook \u2026 then no American is free,\u201d said Tennes\u2019 [ADF] attorney, Kate Anderson.<\/span><\/p>\n East Lansing said in a statement that the farm is violating the city\u2019s \u201clong-standing ordinance that protects sexual orientation\u201d and can\u2019t sell fruit at the market.<\/span><\/p>\n In a <\/span>statement<\/b><\/a>, the City of Lansing said:<\/span><\/p>\n The Country Mill has been excluded from the East Lansing Farmer\u2019s Market because the East Lansing Farmer\u2019s Market policy requires that all vendors comply with the City\u2019s Civil Rights ordinances while at the market and as a general business practice. <\/span><\/p>\n Contrary to this policy and the constitutionally protected rights of all couples<\/a>, The Country Mill has advertised that their business practice is to prohibit same-sex<\/a> couples<\/a> from holding weddings at their orchard in Charlotte, MI. <\/span><\/p>\n Their business practices violate the City of East Lansing\u2019s long-standing ordinance that protects sexual orientation as well as the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling that grants the right for same-sex<\/a> couples<\/a> to be married.<\/span><\/p>\n Tennes \u2013 who says<\/a> he runs his business to \u201cglorify god\u201d \u2013 has said that he wants a judge to order East Lansing to allow him back at the market and to stop the city from extending policies to businesses outside the city.<\/p>\n Stephen Tennes doesn’t want to serve everyone. In fact he violated East Lansing’s civil rights ordinance by stating that he refuses LGBT biz<\/p>\n \u2014 Pablo Johnstone (@Ptotheftothej) June 1, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cTrue tolerance,\u201d he said, \u201cis a two way street. The government should not eradicate people of faith from the marketplace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Watch ADF\u2019s report on the case below.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The post Michigan Apple Grower Banned From Farmer\u2019s Market For Homophobic Facebook Post<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\nRELATED:\u00a0Southern Poverty Law Center Designates \u2018Alliance Defending Freedom\u2019 as an Anti-Gay Hate Group: VIDEO<\/a><\/em><\/h2>\n
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