West
Lifeguard sues LA County, alleges he was punished for refusing to fly Progress Pride flag
A devout Christian lifeguard filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County Fire Department, claiming the government’s requirement to fly the rainbow Progress Pride flag forced him to choose between his job and his faith.
“I felt like I was being targeted or entrapped by [Section] Chief [Arthur] Lester and my religious beliefs were not being taken seriously,” Captain Jeffrey Little wrote in a complaint to the county, which was included in the suit. “He did not notify me of this change and gave me no heads up that the flags would be flying.”
In March 2023, the LA County Board of Supervisors passed a motion requiring the Progress Pride flag — a rainbow flag that has additional colors to represent transgender people and people of color — to be flown at county facilities throughout June, known as LGBTQ “Pride” month. Little requested a religious accommodation that would exempt him from personally raising the Pride flag at his station, according to the suit.
The request was granted the same day, and Little, who has served the Los Angeles County Fire Department for over 22 years, was promised he wouldn’t have to raise the flag himself or ensure that it was raised at his station.
However, when he arrived at work two days later, one of his supervisors left three Pride flags near his station and lifeguards were ordered to fly the flags, according to the lawsuit.
CHRISTIAN POLITICIAN TAKES LEGAL ACTION AFTER ANTI-LGBT PRIDE TWEET SEES HIS ‘LIFE TORN APART’
Capt. Jeffrey Little, a longtime Los Angeles County Fire Department lifeguard, sued the county for religious discrimination after being forced to fly a Progress Pride flag. (Getty Images/Thomas More Society)
Little said he took down the flags and, later that day, followed up with human resources, which told him his religious accomodation request was now denied. Lester, his supervising officer, ordered Little to put up the flag at his tower, according to the suit.
Little cited his religious beliefs and refused, but was told his religious beliefs “do not matter,” the complaint said. The chief then hoisted the flag himself and informed Little it must fly there the entire month.
Afterward, Little was removed from his role on a background investigation unit despite his “exemplary record” and there “never being any concerns with his work or reputation,” his lawyer, Paul Jonna of the Thomas More Society, told Fox News Digital.
“He courageously stood on principle and asked for a simple religious accommodation, which he is rightfully and legally due, only to be first denied, then threatened, harassed, discriminated and retaliated against for his widely shared Christian religious beliefs,” Jonna said in a statement.
Little also allegedly received a death threat against him and his daughters at his family home, according to the suit. For the remainder of the month, Little was forced to use up his vacation time to avoid flying the Pride flag at his work station, Jonna said.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE REVERSES BAN ON EMPLOYEES WEARING UNIFORMS AT PRIDE EVENTS FOLLOWING LGBTQ BACKLASH
The newly painted “Venice Pride Flag Lifeguard Tower,” after its dedication ceremony at Venice Beach, California on June 01, 2017. – The tower was painted by local artists to celebrate the start of LGBT Pride Month. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
As Pride month approached this year, Little once again sought a religious accomodation so he wouldn’t be forced to fly the flag. However, Jonna told Fox News Digital his requests were “essentially ignored,” leading him to seek legal counsel.
In addition to the fire department, Little’s suit names three lifeguard chiefs as plaintiffs and claims religious discrimination, retaliation and harassment and violations of the First Amendment.
Jonna argued his client’s accomodation request should be granted because it is “so narrow” and puts no burden on his employer.
“In this case it’s so easy,” the attorney told Fox News Digital. “There are situations where accommodating a religious observer would be difficult. This is not one of them. This is the most straightforward possible accommodation request. And yet they’re just ignoring him.”
The suit seeks “damages and injunctive relief—a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction—to protect Captain Little’s religious rights during Pride Month,” the Thomas More Society said.
The LA County Fire Department told Fox News Digital it does not comment on personnel issues or ongoing litigation.
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The David Woods abuse case and Iowa’s child welfare crisis
David Woods is serving 100-year prison sentence in connection with a case in which he adopted, then abused, boys from the Iowa foster care system.
New Mexico State Treasurer Laura Montoya reintroduced baby bonds to legislative teams at a recent conference.
During this conference, Montoya and her team explained what baby bonds would do, what they would mean for New Mexicans and asked for their thoughts and what she could change to help get it passed in the New Mexico Legislature.
Baby bonds are a way for parents to set children up for success later down the line, Montoya said. New Mexico would allocate around $7,000 to each newborn child as part of the bond proposal. The bond would grow over time, and the child would have access to it at age 18. Bonds could be used for a down payment for a car or to pay for parts of school that are not covered by the lottery or opportunity scholarships, buying or renovating a home, or starting a business all withing the state of New Mexico.
Montoya said the funds would not be used for random expenses.
“Now you might be saying, ‘when I was 18 and I would never give myself that money.’ You’re not getting the money directly. So, what happens is it all gets put into a pool of cash that is invested by the State Investment Council. They manage the money and then when you need it, let’s say you’re a student and NMSU gives us an invoice, you say ‘yes, I went to school and NMSU needs to be paid out,’” Montoya said. “Then it goes to the appropriate (agency), whether it’s EFA (Education Freedom Account) or whoever the Legislature designates, will then sign off the check and send it directly to NMSU. So, it’s their money but it isn’t their money.”
Montoya hypothesized on how a bond would benefit a young New Mexican.
“So, you consider an 18-year-old from a working-class family living in Rio Arriba (County), who dreams of attending a four-year college and eventually becoming a nurse. However, achieving this dream would have been difficult given her family’s working-class income. Having a Baby Bond has already made a difference. Research indicates that even small dollar savings accounts with money designated for school results in low-and middle-income children being more likely to enroll in college,” Montoya said.
Montoya said that statistics from the Treasurer’s Office, other state government agencies and pulled from public records to show what a baby bond could do for someone in a low income bracket.
“So, in Rio Arriba only 6% of adults have a degree beyond a bachelor’s degree. Only 7.5% of renters in Rio Arriba are able to afford median home price and baby bonds can contribute to significant decreases in student loan debt especially for women and people of color. You’ll see that same $7,000 she used $13,000 of it for nursing school when she was 18. Then, she still made another $23,000 and she used 30,000 for a home down payment. By the end of it she still had $150,000,” Montoya said.
The children who receive baby bonds would gain access to them only by taking a financial literacy course — or as Montoya calls it financial fitness course. This could be offered through state banks, but she said maybe later down the line it will be offered in kindergarten through grade 12.
“Financial fitness for me is something that I’m very passionate about because I grew up super humble and we didn’t have anyone to teach us what that looked like in having a savings account and investing and so many New Mexicans don’t. So, the one place we can learn this is in our schools, and we need to partner because a lot of our schools don’t have some of that expertise,” she said. “We need to partner with our banks; we need to partner with others that are doing the work already. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We just need to bring more people in to partner.”
Department Head and Professor at NMSU Harikuman Sankaran questioned whether the bonds could be used by students already relying on the New Mexico Legislative Lottery Scholarship and New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship. Deputy State Treasurer Ricky Serna said students had the option to access the funds regardless of scholarship awards.
“If I’m a student that says, ‘I live in Albuquerque and I’m going to UNM, I already don’t have to pay tuition and I have a scholarship and now I don’t have to pay for books and fees. Do I have to now wait until I buy a home to access my baby bond?’ Maybe it’s ‘No, I can tell UNM I have enough to put me to work in the school of arts and sciences or put me to work somewhere because I want to use some of my money now, right?’ I think that’s the idea,” Serna said.
Montoya said that this concern would be addressed later to not overcomplicate the bond proposal.
“But that’s something the Legislature can do in the future, too. I mean we have 18 years, so I don’t want to complicate it at this moment. I just want to keep it as simple as possible, but I understand (the concern) of what you’re saying on the long-term investment to have them buy in,” Montoya said.
Montoya said Baby Bonds have the potential to address some of the state’s largest issues – poverty, educational attainment and housing. As the bond recipient gets older it too can ease the burden of housing, retirement and reliance on public assistance.
Children born in New Mexico could access the investment between the ages 18 and 35 to build wealth.
Montoya asked the public to comment on the use of Baby Bonds, an issue the state Legislature will consider in the 2027 Legislative session.
Leighanne Muñoz is the business and development reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News and is a fellow with the New Mexico Local News Fellowships and Internships Program, which places emerging journalists in newsrooms across New Mexico. Learn more at www.newmexicolocalnewsfellowships.org. Email her at lmunoz@gannett.com.
The Oregon Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 2, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Pick 4 numbers from July 2 drawing
1PM: 3-2-1-6
4PM: 7-1-7-6
7PM: 6-2-0-4
10PM: 5-3-8-0
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Oregon Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 7:59 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 7:59 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 4: 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. daily.
- Win for Life: 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Megabucks: 7:29 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Oregon editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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