A pastor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said an employer fired him after he refused to call a female co-worker by her preferred male pronouns.

Luke Ash, the lead pastor at Stevendale Baptist Church, said the East Baton Rouge Parish Library fired him on July 10, he told podcast host Tony Perkins on a July 15 episode of Washington Watch.

Ash, who worked as a library technician, said that on July 7 he and a co-worker were talking about a new female trainee who preferred to go by male pronouns. During the conversation, the co-worker repeatedly corrected Ash.

“I refused to use preferred pronouns through the course of conversation,” Ash said, according to WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge. “They got back with me on Thursday morning by giving me the dismissal.”

The pastor had worked at the library fewer than six months.

“I said, I’m not going to lie.”

Pastor Luke Ash, Lead Pastor of Stevendale Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, shares how he was fired from his job last week at the local library for not using preferred pronouns. pic.twitter.com/xZqv8MSr3r

— Tony Perkins (@tperkins) July 15, 2025

Ash said his employers gave him the chance to call the trainee by her preferred pronouns, and that his manager gave him a copy of the library’s inclusivity policy, according to WBRZ-TV.

But he refused to bend the knee.

“I said, ‘I’m not going to lie. I cannot do it,’” Ash told Perkins.

Local pastors raised a furor on behalf of Ash during the East Baton Rouge Parish Library Board meeting on Thursday, according to WAFB-TV.

During the comment portion of the meeting, Pastor Lewis Richerson fervently defended Ash.

“We believe there are two genders that God created. So, asking me to affirm something contrary to the Word of God is asking me to violate the text, scripture, and deeply held religious convictions,” Richerson said.

Richerson and more than 30 other Louisiana pastors wrote a letter to the board, insisting Ash get his job back.

“A group of religious leaders from our parish and around this state requested two things: immediately reinstate Pastor Ash, and two, change your policy that led to his removal,” Richerson said at the meeting.

Board President Candace Temple continually interrupted Richerson, saying that Ash’s termination was not an agenda item that evening.

“Sir, do we need to get security for you? Because you are not following open meeting laws,” Temple said.

Board member Darryl Hurst also interrupted Richerson, citing Louisiana’s Open Meetings Law, which states that public comments must pertain directly to items on the agenda, WAFB-TV reported.

“Germane to the topic, sir. Germane to the topic,” Hurst said. “Look, I live for Jesus and love Jesus with all my heart, but you have to stay germane to the topic, sir. If you’re not going to respect leadership in here, then we’re not going to respect your comment. You are welcome to have a seat.”

In his interview with Perkins, Ash cited the teachings of Jesus.

“Jesus said you have to serve God or mammon, and a lot of times there’s a fork in the road and we decide to compromise for the sake of mammon,” Ash said.

“And I think that we’re very good at being lawyers to ourselves and deceiving ourselves into saying, ‘You know what? What I’m doing is actually the more loving thing. If I just concede on this thing, I’m actually being more loving.’ And I would just say no, the loving thing is to tell the truth,” Ash said.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post Pastor Says He Was Fired from Job Because He Refused to Bend the Knee to Trans Mob appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

A three‑judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously this Wednesday that MyPillow CEO and vocal Trump ally Mike Lindell cannot be forced to pay the $5 million previously awarded in arbitration to software developer Robert Zeidman, who had challenged Lindell’s claims of Chinese interference in the 2020 election.

In 2021, Lindell launched his “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge” during his high‑profile Cyber Symposium, publicly betting $5 million that his packet‑capture election data proved foreign meddling.

Lindell appeared on the War Room podcast and said that he’s offering $5 million to any “cyber guy” who shows up at his symposium and demonstrates that the data doesn’t actually prove Donald Trump won the election.

According to the New York Times– Mr. Zeidman, who described himself as a “well-known” pioneer in the field of software forensics, said that he used his connections in the Trump world to obtain an invitation to Mr. Lindell’s symposium.

According to Mike and from what we could ascertain based on the rules provided to us by Mr. Lindell’s attorney, to win the $5 million payout, the participants must prove that the data used at the Cyber Symposium is NOT from the 2020 election. Mr. Zeidman’s claim is that the data is bogus.

Here’s a video showing Mike Lindell explaining to War Room host Steve Bannon the conditions of the contest to win $5 million at his upcoming Cyber Symposium.

Zeidman filed a detailed 15‑page report dismantling Lindell’s assertions. Although the private contest judges initially withheld judgment, an arbitration panel in 2023 sided with Zeidman—declaring that Lindell’s data was not relatable to the 2020 election and awarding him $5 million. A federal judge later confirmed the award.

A private arbitration panel, including one Lindell handpicked, ruled in Zeidman’s favor in April 2023.

A Minnesota federal judge then rubber‑stamped that award in Feb. 2024 — until the 8th Circuit stepped in to vacate it this week.

In a blistering opinion, the Eighth Circuit judges slammed the panel for ignoring the clear language of Lindell’s contest rules and inventing their own criteria for what constituted “election data.”

The panel “explicitly agreed with the parties that the relevant contract terms were unambiguous,” the court wrote, but then “used extrinsic evidence” — including media coverage and subjective expectations — to interpret the rules in a way that dramatically favored Zeidman.

“The panel thus did more than construe an ambiguous contract term. Adding a form-of-data requirement imposed a new obligation upon LMC, effectively ‘amending the contract,’” the court ruled.

In short: Zeidman didn’t win under the agreed-upon rules — the panel changed the rules after the fact to hand him the money.

“Huge win for our country… we will not stop fighting to get rid of the electronic voting machines!!” Lindell wrote on X.

Huge win for our country… we will not stop fighting to get rid of the electronic voting machines!!https://t.co/ghMZ45DkA5

— Mike Lindell (@realMikeLindell) July 24, 2025

Mike Lindell will be one of the featured guest speakers at the most important conference of the decade — “VINDICATED: American Heroes Who Stood Up to the Deep State” — presented by The Gateway Pundit in Las Vegas. Buy your tickets here.

Read the ruling below:

The post Mike Lindell WINS Appeal in $5 MILLION Arbitration Case — Major Victory for MyPillow CEO! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

For a second day, street protests were held in Kiev and many other cities, targeting Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and his decision to defang the independent anti-corruption agencies and subordinate them to his own Prosecutor General – at a moment where people close to him had become targets for graft investigations.

– Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak shared a video of ongoing protests in Kyiv against efforts to reduce the authority of anti-corruption agencies NABU and SAP.

According to RBK-Ukraine, the footage shows the square in front of the Ivan Franko Theater in Kyiv.

Previously,… pic.twitter.com/GHzqAT8yj5

— The Informant (@theinformant_x) July 23, 2025

The Financial Times reported that ‘The rush [to approve and sing into law the controversial Bill No. 12414] appears to have been sparked by investigations into members of Zelenskyy’s circle’.

Ukrainian protestors chant:

– We are not idiots
– Yermak should F off
– Zelensky is the devil pic.twitter.com/dUhcr72Sif

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) July 23, 2025

‘Re-vote, re-vote’ — young Ukrainians take to the streets protesting the crackdown against anti-corruption agencies

Is Ukraine getting a new Maidan? pic.twitter.com/jEKV9UwQAq

— RT (@RT_com) July 23, 2025

With all the world’s attention focused on the unprecedented protests, Zelensky can’t have his thugs open fire in the crowd to disperse them, so he appears to be either caving to the pressure, or else trying to appear to do so to deflate the movement.

He is now promising a new anti-corruption bill, while still insisting that the state agencies ‘need to be purged of Russian influence’.

Lord Bebo reported:

“I spoke with NABU Director Semen Kryvonos, SAPO Prosecutor Oleksandr Klymenko, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, and Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Maliuk. We discussed various challenges.

The anti-corruption infrastructure will work. Only without Russian influence, it needs to be cleared of that. And there should be more justice”

Russian channels note that the NABU and SAPO agencies were set up by Victoria Nuland and other US officials, so in a way this move from Zelensky would aim to curb American influence.

Now Zelensky’s promising a NEW anti-corruption bill

But he still insists state agencies need to be purged of ‘Russian influence’

Think the protesters in the streets will buy it? https://t.co/tBl5yDjw0Y pic.twitter.com/1zypi3BTVz

— RT (@RT_com) July 23, 2025

Zelensky will submit a presidential bill to the Rada that ‘will preserve the independence of anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine’.

“Of course, everyone has heard what people are saying now — on social networks, to each other, on the streets. This is not in vain. We have analyzed all concerns, all aspects of what needs to be changed and what should be activated. I will propose to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine a bill that will be a response, which will ensure the strength of the law enforcement system. There will be no Russian influence or interference in the activities of law enforcement agencies, and — this is very important — all norms for the independence of anti-corruption institutions will be preserved.”

It’s not just Kiev

Large crowds protesting in Lvov, in Ukraine’s far west

Truckers honking, anger in the air https://t.co/b4oZSZg1bp pic.twitter.com/74NH95VCVm

— RT (@RT_com) July 23, 2025

‘Whoever doesn’t jump is a Muscovite!’

Protesters in Ivano-Frankivsk revive anti-Russian Maidan chant from 2013-2014

Look where that got them the first time pic.twitter.com/UHAtB4PoKs

— RT (@RT_com) July 23, 2025

In the meantime, various Kiev allies have criticized Zelensky’s decision.

Sputnik reported:

“German Chancellor Merz and French President Macron plan to hold ‘intensive talks’ with Zelensky regarding Ukraine’s recent moves to weaken anti-corruption institutions, according to German media.

The concern? Ukrainian authorities’ controversial decision to subordinate formally independent anti-corruption bodies to the Prosecutor General’s Office.”

On the other side of the Atlantic, even major warmonger Senator Lindsay Graham torched Zelensky for cutting the powers of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies.

He warned it ‘undermines progress’ and ‘risks future US support’.

Read more:

THE DAY AFTER: Zelensky Arrests Anti-corruption Officials, Signs Law Stripping Agencies of Power – Protesters Flood the Streets, and Ukraine Will Never Be the Same (VIDEOS)

The post ‘Zelensky Is the Devil’: Second Day of Protests Intensify in Ukraine for Independent Anti-Corruption Agencies – Foreign Allies Start to Turn on Kiev Regime’s Leader (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The House Oversight Committee’s subcommittee took aim at the Deep State—voting to subpoena a who’s-who of Washington heavyweights, including Hillary Clinton, former FBI director James Comey, ex–AGs Barr, Garland, Holder, and even Special Counsel Mueller—in connection with the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

Led by Republican Rep. Scott Perry (PA) and voted through by an overwhelming voice vote, the motion directs Oversight Chair James Comer (R‑KY) to formally issue subpoenas compelling these top officials to testify and submit documents related to Epstein’s network—and potentially incriminating ties into elite circles.

“I have a motion to subpoena the following individuals to expand the full committees investigation into Miss Maxwell – and the list reads as follows: William Jefferson Clinton, Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, James Brian Comey, Loretta Elizabeth Lynch, Eric Hampton Holder, Jr., Merrick Brian Garland, Robert Swan Mueller III, William Pelham Barr, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions the third, and Alberto Gonzales. That’s the full list, Mr. Chairman. And that’s the motion,” Perry said.

More from Fox News:

The motion passed by voice vote, meaning there was not an individual roll call.

The subpoenas would actually need to be issued by Comer to be active.

A House Oversight Committee aide told Fox News Digital, “The subpoenas will be issued in the near future.”

It comes after Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., a member of the progressive “Squad,” pushed for a vote on her own motion to subpoena any files related to Epstein.

That motion passed in an 8-to-2 vote, also directing Comer to issue that subpoena.

Republican lawmakers have dealt with a barrage of media scrutiny on Epstein’s case over the last two weeks. It’s a side effect of the fallout over a recent Department of Justice (DOJ) memo effectively declaring the matter closed.

On Wednesday, the House Oversight Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement also voted to subpoena the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all of the Epstein files with three Republicans joining the Democrat motion.

The Gateway Pundit also reported that the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Epstein-affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for recruiting and sex-trafficking underage girls for Epstein to groom and abuse.

Chairman Comer announced on Wednesday that he issued the subpoena for a deposition to occur at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee on August 11, 2025.

The post House Oversight Panel Votes to Subpoena Bill and Hillary Clinton, Comey, Barr, Garland, Holder, and Mueller in Bombshell Epstein Investigation appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mike Flynn, who was viciously targeted by the Obama-Biden deep state witch hunt, has absolutely eviscerated former Secretary of State and ex-CIA chief Mike Pompeo on social media.

Flynn’s blistering statement calls out Pompeo’s utter failure to act when he had the power to crush the Russia hoax and protect America from the radical left’s endless witch hunts.

On Tuesday, Mike Pompeo took to X following the release of newly declassified presidential briefing documents by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The documents place Barack Obama at the center of the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.

“The notion that President Trump “colluded” with Russia has always been false, and the politicization of our intelligence services in the service of that hoax did enormous damage to public trust,” Pompeo wrote on X.

His post included a video statement in which he expanded on the point:

Mike Pompeo:
“If you’re Vladimir Putin, would you rather have Joe Biden or Donald Trump as the President of the United States? The answer is really easy. You invaded Ukraine when President Biden was there. You invaded Ukraine when President Obama was there. You didn’t touch the darn thing when President Trump was there. I think it actually proves itself.

But if you want to get even deeper about the things we did in the first Trump administration: we provided defensive weapon systems to Ukraine. Obama refused. Biden didn’t want to do it.

We made energy prices low by building, building, building here—drilling, drilling, drilling here. That hurt Putin dramatically. We put an enormous number of sanctions on the Russian regime. We had real deterrence.

I am confident that the second version of Trump—the second term of President Trump—will do precisely the same.

This narrative that somehow President Trump, or Donald Trump, was a Russian asset or connected to Putin, or that Putin had some goods on him, has always been false. It’s always been known to be false, and yet was distributed by the mainstream media and by a White House that was determined to push back against the lost election.”

The notion that President Trump “colluded” with Russia has always been false, and the politicization of our intelligence services in the service of that hoax did enormous damage to public trust. pic.twitter.com/CmmNrWHYhN

— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) July 22, 2025

Flynn, a retired three-star general and former National Security Advisor to President Trump, has long held that Pompeo was one of the biggest silent enablers of the Deep State narrative that crippled Trump’s first term.

According to Flynn, Pompeo knew the Russia hoax was a fabrication from Day One but chose cowardly silence over truth and transparency.

“[Mike Pompeo] You were the CIA Director and the Secretary of State with access to all of it—yet you said nothing and did nothing when you could have stopped it all,” Flynn wrote on X.

“Please go away. The American people are done with you!”

Mike Flynn will be one of the featured guest speakers at the most important conference of the decade — “VINDICATED: American Heroes Who Stood Up to the Deep State” — presented by The Gateway Pundit in Las Vegas. Buy your tickets here.

.@mikepompeo YOU WERE THE CIA DIRECTOR AND THE SECSTATE WITH ACCESS TO ALL OF IT, YET YOU SAID AND DID NOTHING WHEN YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED ALL OF IT.

PLEASE GO AWAY, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE DONE WITH YOU! https://t.co/5YqVtPwKyv

— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) July 23, 2025

The post Mike Flynn UNLOADS on Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo Over Russia Hoax Comments: “PLEASE GO AWAY, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE DONE WITH YOU!” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.