Saginaw Catholic therapist sues over firing after refusing to counsel gay couple

[trotsky]

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/05/14/saginaw-catholic-therapist-sues-over-firing-after-refusing-counsel-gay-couple/609865002/

A social worker is suing her former employer after she was fired for refusing to provide marriage counseling to a gay couple because it conflicted with her Catholic faith.

Kathleen Lorentzen alleges in a new federal lawsuit that she was discriminated against, mocked for her beliefs and physically intimidated by her male supervisors at HealthSource Saginaw.

...Lorentzen worked from 2011 to 2017 as an outpatient behavioral therapist for HealthSource, according to the complaint filed late last week in U.S. District Court. In summer 2017, a gay couple was referred to her for marriage counseling.

She saw the couple twice. Because of her Catholic beliefs, she felt she could no longer counsel them on their marriage, the complaint says. The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is a union between a man and a woman.

[MineralMan]

1. No. She was fired for not doing the job she was hired to do.

Simple.

"Hey! Bill! Go change the oil on that Chevy that just came in!"

"Can't do it, boss. The guy who owns it is gay. My religion, you know, opposes that."

"OK. In that case, you can pick up your final paycheck at the cashier's window."

That's how it works.

[trotsky]

2. Hobby Lobby opened the door to this kind of shit.

Allowing religious beliefs as a valid excuse to be a bigot.

[MineralMan]

3. I know. It sucks.

Same thing with pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions because "God told 'em."

It's all such nonsense. It would be funny if it were not so wrong.

[trotsky]

4. Well, I've heard that we should expect violence if religious beliefs aren't respected.

So I guess the bigots win.

[MineralMan]

5. No. Bigots are always losers.

Big "L" losers. We just have to keep pointing it out.

[Lordquinton]

6. Who was it that said that again?

Some guy in a fancy hat and robe?

[trotsky]

7. Yes indeed.

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-30838667/pope-francis-curse-my-mother-expect-a-punch

To illustrate his point, the pontiff told journalists on the papal plane his assistant could expect a punch if he ''cursed his mother''.

''It's normal - you cannot provoke, you cannot insult the faith of others,'' he said.

[Lordquinton]

8. Normal and beautiful

Words he has used to describe child abuse and physical assault