Alaska Airlines Faces Trial After Firing Christian Flight Attendants Over LGBTQ+ Act Criticism

"You cannot be fired because your employer does not like your religious beliefs."

A United States court has determined that Alaska Airlines will face trial over firing two Christian flight attendants for “hate speech.”

Lacey Smith and Marli Brown were dismissed after questioning their company’s support of the Democrat LGBTQ+ Equality [Safetyism] Act.

First Liberty, who are representing the pair, said,

“The Court remanded the case for trial, holding that there was enough evidence for a jury to find that the Airline and the Union discriminated against them because of their religious beliefs or practices.”

The case, which began in 2020 when the airline backed Black Lives Matter’s agenda, escalated in 2021.

Smith, who had been suspended after calling out the Marxist core of Black Lives Matter, spoke out again when the airline informed staff that they were committing to the Act.

In 2020, Smith circulated a petition called “Depoliticising Alaska Airlines, which correctly argued, in sum, that BLM had “political ties into Marxist communism through its self-proclaimed Marxist leaders.”

Alaska launched an investigation and suspended Smith for mischaracterising the company’s support for BLM and harassment, citing “work safety” concerns.

According to the June 2026 ruling, 6 months later an internal memo from the Airline at the time told staff they were behind the Act.

They described it as seeking to “amend existing civil rights laws protecting individuals from discrimination based on race, colour, national origin, sex, disability and religion.”

This adds, they said, “clear, consistent protections to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Offering feedback, Smith simply asked, “As a company, do you think it’s possible to regulate morality?”

In response, the Airline posted,

“Supporting the Equality Act is not about regulating morality. It’s about supporting laws that allow our LGBTQ+ employees and guests, no matter what state they live in or fly to, to be protected against discrimination.”

“We also expect our employees to live by these same values. Our differences are to be respected.”

According to court documents, union boss Jeffrey Peterson made vicious complaints about Smith, telling executives that employees “were alarmed by Smith’s comment.”

Some reportedly said they didn’t feel “they could fly safely with her.”

Smith was fired not long after.

The notice of termination read:

“This was not the first time [Smith] engaged in conduct that was contrary to [Alaska’s] Company values and had a significant negative impact on other employees.”

They then accused Smith of “promulgating divisiveness, and undermining the Company’s efforts to create an inclusive work environment free of harassment and discrimination.”

Marli Brown, who was fired at the same time, had a similar experience.

Commenting on the company’s support for the Democrat bill, which adds “sexual orientation and gender identity” to the Civil Rights Act, Brown wrote,

“Does Alaska support: endangering the Church, encouraging suppression of religious freedom, obliterating women’s rights and parental rights?

“This act will force every American to agree with controversial government-imposed ideology or be treated as an outlaw.

“The Equality Act,” she said, “would affect everything from girls’ and women’s showers and locker rooms to women’s shelters and women’s prisons, endangering safety and diminishing privacy.”

“Giving people blanket permission to enter private spaces for the opposite sex enables sexual predators to exploit the rules and gain easy access to victims. This is the Equality Act,” Brown concluded.

Again, AFA Union head Jeffrey Peterson took issue with criticism of the Act.

He complained to Alaska executives in a thread of emails. In one of those, Peterson stated, “I wish fewer people would struggle so much with unifying their faith with inclusivity.”

Court papers also show another union official insinuating assassination.

AFA representative Terry Taylor posted in a separate chat,

“Can we PLEASE get someone to shut down comments, or put Marli and Lacey in a burlap bag and drop them in a well” (Taylor later revised that message), and also that Brown “needs to go!”

The company later deleted both Smith and Brown’s questions, “shut down further comments, and began investigating both women.”

Alaska Airlines also removed the three-strike rule for comments, and implemented a zero-tolerance approach to anyone expressing a dissenting opinion.

The actions led retiring CEO Brad Tilden to warn executives against “censoring people for having conservative Christian views.”

The lawsuit will now proceed on religious discrimination grounds.

Notably, First Liberty’s summary of the case included an example of how far the company has gone in its support of the Equality Act.

“Alaska Airlines VP of Inflight,” Liberty said, “testified that an employee’s use of the term “opposite sex” violates the Airlines’ discrimination policy because that implies that there are only two sexes.”

Responding to the good news decision, Liberty remarked,

“We are grateful the court recognised the clear evidence of religious discrimination against Marli and Lacey by both Alaska Airlines and the flight attendants’ union.

“The Ninth Circuit’s decision today reinforces that federal civil rights laws protect people of faith from discrimination by their employer or their union. You cannot be fired because your employer does not like your religious beliefs.”