An Iowa newspaper editor has filed a complaint claiming his firing over an anti-gay post was a violation of his religious faith.

Bob Eschliman, the former editor of the Newton Daily News, was fired in May after he railed against “the LGBTQXYZ crowd and the Gaystapo” in a post on his personal blog.

“[W]e must fight back against the enemy,” Eschliman said of an attempt by LGBT people of faith to rewrite the Bible to “make their sinful nature 'right with God.'”

Eschliman has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), according to media critic Jim Romenesko.

Matthew Whitaker, Eschliman's attorney, said the firing was illegal because his client was expressing his religious beliefs.

“In America, it is against the law to fire an employee for expressing a religious belief in public. This kind of religious intolerance by an employer has no place in today's welcoming workforce,” he said.