A Colorado business owner who opposes same-sex marriage sued the state because she would like to accept customers planning opposite-sex weddings but reject requests made by same-sex couples. Her case has reached the Supreme Court.
Dec. 3, 2022, 1:00 PM UTCWASHINGTON — To Lorie Smith, her lawsuit is a free speech crusade. To her opponents, it's an effort to weaken laws aimed at combating LGBTQ discrimination.
Her case has reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where she is asking the justices to decide in a case being argued on Monday that she cannot be punished under Colorado's anti-discrimination law for refusing to design websites for same-sex weddings. Smith argues that, as a creative professional, she has a free speech right under the Constitution's First Amendment to refuse to undertake work that conflicts with her own views.
Smith, whose business is called 303 Creative, said in an interview she has always been drawn to creative projects but also has strongly held beliefs that “marriage is between one man and one woman —and that union is significant.” The case gives the Supreme Court, which now has a 6-3 conservative majority, a second bite at a legal question it considered but never resolved when it ruled in a similar case in 2018 in favor of a Christian baker, also from Colorado, who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. The court ruled then that the baker, Jack Phillips, did not receive a fair hearing before the Colorado civil rights commission because there was evidence of anti-religious bias.
“If the court grants an exemption for what is deemed artistic and creative the court has blown a big hole in our anti-discrimination principles,” said Louise Melling, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. Such a ruling could have knock-on effects on other areas such as health care, education and employment, she added.
"Allowing a business to refuse service because of who these customers are would break from this tradition and deny them full participation in the marketplace," he said.
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