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'Where Is Their Respect for My Beliefs?' Christian Woman Targeted for Not Filing Taxes for Lesbian Couple

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A lesbian couple in Indiana wants lawmakers to force businesses to serve them, even if it violates the religious views of the business owners and their employees. 

Nancy Fivecoate owns Carter Tax Service and has prepared Bailey Brazzel's taxes for the last four years. 

This year, Fivecoate declined to offer her services when Brazzel sought to file her first joint tax return with her wife, whom she married this past July. 

"I declined to prepare the taxes because of my religious beliefs," Fivecoate said in a statement to  RTV6. "I am a Christian and I believe marriage is between one man and one woman. I was very respectful to them. I told them where I thought she might be able to get her taxes prepared."

The couple left but were shocked by Fivecoate's decision to stick to her faith. 

"We were really upset and shocked. At first I thought she was joking around," Bailey said. "I was completely shocked, I never expected that to happen."

Indiana law makes it illegal to deny services to people based on their race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, familial status and disability – but not sexual orientation.

However, the couple told RTV6 they want lawmakers to change that. 

The city of Kokomo, Indiana passed legislation that bans turning down business with LGBTQ people even if it violates your religious beliefs. 

Steve Sanders, an associate professor of law at Indiana University's Maurer School of Law, told the Kokomo Tribune that the state's overall lack of such law is "odd."

"The only recourse is good-old fashioned shaming – going on Facebook and telling their friends this is a discriminatory business and people might want to think twice about visiting," he said.

Fivecoate just wants her sincere beliefs to be respected. 

"The LGBT want respect for their beliefs, which I give them," Fivecoate wrote in her statement. "I did not say anything about their lifestyle. That is their choice. It is not my choice. Where is their respect for my beliefs?"

The business owner said she still has gay clients, but will not file the joint taxes of married LGBT couples. 

Still, Fivecoate has faced damaging attacks online for her faith. 

"I am not trying to destroy them by dragging them through social media," she said of Brazzel and her wife. "Why are they trying to destroy my business? I have made no comment on social media. Where is their respect for my business?"
 

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About The Author

Emily
Jones

Emily Jones is a multi-media journalist for CBN News in Jerusalem. Before she moved to the Middle East in 2019, she spent years regularly traveling to the region to study the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, meet with government officials, and raise awareness about Christian persecution. During her college years, Emily served as president of Regent University's Christians United for Israel chapter and spoke alongside world leaders at numerous conferences and events. She is an active member of the Philos Project, an organization that seeks to promote positive Christian engagement with the Middle