Ohio's gay-rights
policy victorious
Prison chaplain's
suspension upheld
Bill Sloat,
Cleveland.com from the Web, May 2, 2006
Cincinnati -- A federal
appeals court has delivered a major victory to the gay-rights movement by ruling
that Ohio officials can discipline public employees who discriminate, even if
the workers say they are following religious beliefs.
The decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati is an
important legal development because it means employers can enforce workplace
policies that forbid bias based on sexual orientation.
Had the ruling gone the other way, those workplace policies could have been in
jeopardy. It appears to be the first case of its kind from Ohio and it may
yet be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The case involves a lengthy dispute between a Protestant prison chaplain and his
bosses in the state prison system. They clashed over the chaplain's
refusal to let an openly homosexual inmate direct a penitentiary choir in 2002.
William Akridge, a Baptist minister, welcomed gay inmates to his worship
services but would not allow homosexuals to become leaders in the
nondenominational events.
A prisoner filed a discrimination complaint against Akridge, saying he had been
a Christian for 22 years and the church he attended before he was locked up
"would not tolerate bigotry."
Prison officials upheld his complaint.
Akridge, however, interpreted scriptures to say he would be punished if he
complied.
"The leaders that the chaplain selects implicitly implies an endorsement and
approval of the lifestyle of the selected leaders," Akridge explained.
He added that a gay choir director "would violate my conscience and make me
guilty in the sight of God."
Warden Allen Lazaroff at the Madison Correctional Facility suspended the
chaplain for insubordination for two days, costing the pastor $329 in pay.
Lazaroff and other officials at the prison said Akridge disobeyed a direct order
to put the gay inmate in charge of the choir.
Akridge, a former Army chaplain who started working for the state in 1996, is a
graduate of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
He accused state officials of trampling his constitutional rights as a Christian
minister and pointed out that his job description as a Protestant prison
chaplain put him in charge of the religious services.
In court papers, Akridge said he believes "homosexual behavior is immoral,
sinful, perverse and contrary to the teachings of the Bible and the Christian
faith."
His lawyers, David Langdon and Jeffrey A. Shaffer of Cincinnati, were unable to
convince the appeals court that prison officials overstepped their authority.
Langdon co-authored the 2004 state constitutional amendment that bans gay
marriage in Ohio.
"Chaplain Akridge's speech on the controversial and current social issue of
homosexuality as viewed from the ethical dictates of the Christian faith he
represents is constitutionally protected," Langdon and Shaffer said in the
lawsuit.
Akridge transferred to another prison after his run-in with officials at
Madison.
In a memo he wrote immediately after discussing the incident with Madison's
deputy warden, he said he was told that "times had changed" and that the gay
inmate should lead the choir.
Siding with the prison officials, the appeals court noted that they acted
properly to enforce a policy aimed at preventing discrimination.
"Although it may be that Akridge could have disbanded the choir and/or praise
band entirely, the facts appear to be that he did not do so; rather he openly
and intentionally excluded an inmate from such groups," the appeals court said.
"Even if the ODRC [Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction] had no
interest in the existence of the band, this would not vitiate its interest in
preventing discrimination and its consequences."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
bsloat@plaind.com, 513-631-4125.
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