Web designer vs same-sex marriage-the court will decide
2022.12.05 06:31
Web designer vs same-sex marriage-the court will decide
Budrigannews.com – In a major case involving an evangelical Christian web designer who refuses to provide her services for same-sex marriages, the claim that the constitutional right to free speech exempts artists from anti-discrimination laws will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday.
The appeal filed by Denver-area business owner Lorie Smith for an exemption from a Colorado law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and other factors will be heard by the Supreme Court. Colorado received favorable rulings from lower courts, including the Denver-based 10th United States Circuit Court of Appeals in 2021.
According to 38-year-old Smith, Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act violates the First Amendment’s right to free speech for artists, including web designers, by requiring them to convey messages they oppose through their work.
The Supreme Court’s narrow 2018 decision in favor of Christian Denver-area baker Jack Phillips, who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple on religious grounds, is the basis for the case.
In that case, the court did not create an exemption for free speech from anti-discrimination laws.
Smith is represented by lawyers from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative religious rights organization, just like Phillips.
Her challenge to a Colorado law based on religious rights that are also protected by the First Amendment was ignored by the Supreme Court, which instead focused on free speech.
Endorsing Smith’s free speech arguments could result in widespread discrimination against LGBT people and others, according to Colorado, civil rights organizations, and numerous legal scholars.
In a legal brief submitted to the Supreme Court, the state stated, “It would encompass not only a business’s objections to serving certain customers motivated by sincerely held religious beliefs, but also objections motivated by ignorance, whim, bigotry, caprice, and more – including pure expressions of racial, sexist, or anti-religious hatred.”
Discrimination in housing, hotels, retail establishments, restaurants, and educational institutions is prohibited by state public accommodations laws.
One was first enacted in Colorado in 1885. It currently prohibits businesses that are open to the public from displaying a notice stating that they will not provide goods or services to customers based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or other characteristics.
Even though it has supported LGBT rights in other cases, the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority of 6-3, has become increasingly supportive of religious rights and related free speech claims in recent years.In a landmark 2015 decision, the court made gay marriage legal across the country. In 2020, federal law will give LGBT workers more protections.
Many conservative Christians, including Smith, who owns the web design company 303 Creative, agree that opposite-sex couples should not be allowed to marry.She feared she would be punished for refusing to serve gay weddings, so she filed a preemptive lawsuit in 2016 against the Colorado civil rights commission and other state officials.
Other states have seen similar legal battles between owners of wedding photographers and calligraphers and other small businesses.
By the end of June, Smith’s case is expected to be decided.
