GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A new wedding venue in Grand Rapids that opened in July, The Broadway Avenue, received a municipal civil infraction citation from the City of Grand Rapids’ 61st District Court that was issued on September 30th for violating the city’s Human Rights ordinance.

Nick and Hannah Natale are the owners of The Broadway Avenue, a wedding and event venue in a 120-year-old church that was restored and renovated for their business. The couple had posted information on Facebook when they opened the venue that they wouldn’t be hosting marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples due to their Christian beliefs.

MORE NEWS: Former High School Soccer Ref Faces Assault Charges After Alleged Scuffle with Teen Player

The July 11th Facebook post on their business page said, “We at The Broadway Avenue, are so excited to provide the best possible experience to our clients and their guests as they celebrate some of the biggest events in life. Our business is the result of a lot of hard work and dedication and is a reflection of who we are, and the values and beliefs we hold from our faith in Jesus Christ. As a result, we would like our business to remain true to our Christian faith and this includes marriage. We have love and respect for all, but it is possible for good people to disagree about strong religious beliefs. If for any reason we are not able to meet your expectations at The Broadway Avenue, we would be happy to help you find a venue that can. Our Christian values and beliefs have no effect on how we
treat people, how we welcome event guests, who we hire, our vendor relationships or other events booked at our venue. We look forward to all of celebrating to come! With love, Nick and Hannah.”

They went on to clarify, “The two people that are getting married at our venue must be a man and a woman” and have also stated publicly that they wouldn’t be marrying transgender couples.

The city’s documents that accompany the citation against the business say that “The complaining witness says that on the date(s) and at the location described, the defendant being a business of public accommodations violated the following provisions of the Grand Rapids Human Rights Ordinance.”

However, on the citation, there is no witness listed. The “complainant signature” is Patricia Caudill, Office of Equity and Engagement Representative. Is the city the complainant? That seems to be a conflict of interest. Have they issued this citation without a formal complaint made by a resident of Grand Rapids? The city wouldn’t answer that question.

The citation also says “July 2022 to present” so that means that every day, $500 will be added to the fine as their ordinance says, “each day upon which a violation occurs shall constitute a separate new violation.”

Steven J. Guitar, Media Relations Manager for the City of Grand Rapids, told Michigan News Source, “After receiving multiple complaints from the community, a multidisciplinary team of City staff conducted an investigation as outlined in the Grand Rapids Human Rights Ordinance. After a thorough investigation into the actions of The Broadway Avenue LLC, the City of Grand Rapids concluded that The Broadway Avenue LLC violated the City’s Human Rights Ordinance, Section 9.968.”

MORE NEWS: Firearm Deer Season Takes Aim in Michigan Today

The section cited by Guitar is actually 9.963 in the updated ordinance. This section appears to be in direct violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, says “no person shall adopt, enforce or employ any policy or requirement, or publish, post, broadcast, or distribute any advertisement, sign, notice, or solicitation which discriminates, or suggests, supports, or affirms discrimination, in the provision of housing, employment, public accommodations or public services.”

Multiple media reports indicate that the city started investigating the wedding venue in July after receiving the numerous complaints that Guitar mentioned. The city had said in a statement back in the summer of this year, “The City’s Office of Equity and Engagement has officially received four complaints and has begun processing them.”
The Natales’ attorney, David Kallman, senior counsel for Great Lakes Justice Center was on “The Steve Gruber Show” on Thursday to discuss the case.

Kallman talked about how the city’s own rules work against each other by protecting both religious views and transgender rights.

Kallman said, “Apparently the City of Grand Rapids is picking sides here in this dispute. Our clients are being prosecuted under the city ordinance for discrimination because they do not want to participate in a same sex ceremony at their venue. Both sides here are protected classes under their ordinance. Religion is a protected class and the same sex marriage is now a protected class.” He went on to say that the city is picking sides and only protecting “one of these categories and not the other.”

He voiced confusion over what his clients have done that resulted in the citation. He said, “I’m confused as to how someone can be guilty of something before anything has happened and you can just be prosecuted for what you say.”

Kallman told radio host Steve Gruber, “Our clients haven’t even done anything other than speak at this point. It’s a first amendment violation, clearly. You have the right to voice your opinions and your beliefs. That’s all our clients have done. There’s not an actual discriminatory act to my knowledge that has happened yet.”

He continued, “They’ve (clients) just come out publicly and said they have basic mainstream Christian beliefs in this area and that they are going to follow through and follow their conscience in this area… there’s no allegation in this ordinance citation that our clients received that claims that they specifically violated anybody’s rights.”

Kallman says if the city follows through on enforcing the citation, then his clients are “being discriminated against based on their religious beliefs” and he vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court if necessary.

In a phone call with Kallman, he cited three areas of contention and says that he intends to go after the ordinance itself. The first area he discusses is in the ordinance where it says “prohibitions against discrimination as provided for in this Ordinance shall not be deemed preempted by state or federal law, but are intended to supplement such law.” If this municipal law conflicts with the state law (e.g. Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act), the state law is supreme – and the federal law before that.

The second area Kallman discussed is the fact that the ordinance is illegal and unconstitutional according to the First Amendment of the Constitution regarding freedom of speech and free exercise of religion. The third area is finding out if the city is the complainant. He continued, “I have other problems that I have with this ordinance that I’m not getting into.”

When asked about the city violating their own ordinance by discriminating against a business for it’s religious views and when asked who the complainant/s are, Guitar said, “Due to the potential for future litigation in the 61st District Court, the City of Grand Rapids will not comment further in this matter.”

Kallman filed a denial of responsibility and appearance document today on behalf of The Broadway Ave. LLC and requested an informal hearing.

If the couple is found to be in violation the ordinance, which is a municipal civil infraction pursuant to the provisions of Michigan law, the infraction is punishable by a fine of not more than $500.00 and all other costs, damages, expenses, sanctions and remedies as authorized by Michigan law. However, because the violation is ongoing every day, it will cost the business roughly $15,000 a month.