A New Jersey church group announced Aug. 13 that it is filing a lawsuit against the state for investigating a same-sex discrimination complaint against it.

The investigation started when the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association rejected the application of a lesbian couple, Harriet Bernstein and Luisa Paster of Ocean Grove, who wanted to use a church-owned beachfront pavilion for their civil-union ceremony. The Methodist church group turned the couple away and refunded their deposit because it did not recognize same-sex unions.

The couple filed a complaint with New Jersey’s Division on Civil Rights, which then launched an investigation into the claim.

Even though the Division on Civil Rights is only looking into the complaint at this point, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association perceived the state action as a violation of their religious freedoms.

“Whenever a policy or state law conflicts with the U.S. Constitution, guess which one wins? The U.S. Constitution every time,” Brian Raum, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said in a statement to PGN. “Religious groups have the right to make their own decisions without government interference. The government can’t force a private Christian organization to use its property in a way that would violate its own religious beliefs. This action by the state of New Jersey is a gross violation of the First Amendment.”

The Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, is a self-described “Christ-centered” organization that “provides legal defense and advocacy of religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and traditional family values.”

A spokesperson for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said they had not received the paperwork yet but responded to news of the lawsuit.

“We have not been formally served with the complaint,” said Lee Moore, spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office and the Division on Civil Rights, in a statement. “Nonetheless, the lawsuit appears to be premature. To date, the Division on Civil Rights has asserted nothing beyond its right to initiate an investigation to determine whether there has been a violation of the law against discrimination.”

The Alliance Defense Fund disagreed and said that New Jersey’s investigation goes against separation of church and state.

“I know that the spokesperson for that department said that the lawsuit was premature,” said Greg Scott, spokesperson for the Alliance Defense Fund. “However, the threat of violation of the First Amendment rights of this association is the issue. The fact that the investigation was launched is the issue.”

Moore said the state is required to look into any and all complaints and that this case is just one of many being investigated.

“By statute, it is the division’s duty to investigate any charges of discrimination filed with it, and the agency does so in response to nearly 1,300 formal complaints a year,” he said.

Moore could not determine how long this particular investigation would take.

“There just isn’t any way to answer that because it depends on so many variables. Investigations can take weeks or months,” he said. “It’s very hard to say.”

But Moore said the lawsuit will not have any bearing on the state’s investigation into the case.

“The filing of a federal lawsuit by the Camp Meeting Association has, at this juncture, no effect on the trajectory of the original complaint filed by that couple that is being investigated by the Division on Civil Rights,” he said. “That process goes forward despite the lawsuit.”

According to New Jersey’s Civil Rights laws, individuals and organizations found to be in violation can face fines of up to $500 per violation or up to 90 days imprisonment.

Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.