Supreme Court Rules Web Designer Can Refuse Services To Same-Sex Weddings; Activists See Ruling As Setback To LGBTQ Rights
30.06.2023 - 15:39
/ deadline.com
The Supreme Court ruled that a website designer could refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings, despite a Colorado non-discrimination law.
The court ruled that the designer was within First Amendment rights to refuse such services, but activists said the decision was a setback for LGBTQ rights.
“This is a dangerous step backward and gives some businesses the license to discriminate,” The Human Rights Campaign said in a statement.
In the ruling (read it here), the court was split 6-3 along ideological lines.
The case involved a website designer, Lorie Smith, who wanted to expand her graphic design business to couples seeking wedding websites. Worried that she would be challenged if she refused to create sites for same-sex couples, she filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent Colorado from enforcing a statute barring discrimination in public accommodation, including discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, in the majority opinion, wrote, “In this case, Colorado seeks to force an individual tospeak in ways that align with its views but defy her conscience about a matter of major significance.”
He added that “abiding the Constitution’s commitment to the freedom of speech means all of us will encounter ideas we consider ‘unattractive’ … ‘misguided, or even hurtful.’ But tolerance, not coercion, is our Nation’s answer. The First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands.”
In a dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, “Today, the Court, for the first time in its history, grantsa business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected