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Web designer opposed to gay marriage at center of U.S. Supreme Court clash
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zinn
Dec 3, 2022, 3:26:18 AM12/3/22
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https://www.reuters.com/world/us/web-designer-opposed-gay-marriage-center-
us-supreme-court-clash-2022-12-02/
WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The wedding websites that Colorado-based web
designer Lorie Smith would like to create for clients might offer ceremony
details, pictures, a story about the couple and a biblical quote
celebrating how through marriage they "become one flesh."
They would not, however, show same-sex nuptials.
Smith, an evangelical Christian who believes marriage is only between a
man and a woman, has taken her fight to refuse to make wedding websites
for same-sex couples and to advertise that policy to the U.S. Supreme
Court in a major case to be argued on Monday. Smith is appealing lower
court rulings backing Colorado.
The stakes are high, pitting the right of LGBT people to seek goods and
services from businesses without discrimination against the right to free
speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, as asserted by
Smith.
Smith, 38, is married with one child and lives in the Denver suburb of
Littleton. She argues that Colorado anti-discrimination law violates free
speech rights by forcing artists - including web designers - to express
messages through their work that they oppose.
"Colorado is compelling and censoring my speech and forcing me to design
and create custom artwork that celebrates messages that go against my
deeply held beliefs," Smith said in an interview. "My faith is at the core
of who I am."
Public accommodations laws exist in many states, banning discrimination in
areas such as housing, hotels, retail businesses, restaurants and
educational institutions. Colorado first enacted one in 1885. Its current
Anti-Discrimination Act bars businesses open to the public from denying
goods or services to people because of race, gender, sexual orientation,
religion and certain other characteristics, and from displaying a notice
to that effect.
Colorado, civil rights groups and numerous legal scholars warn of a ripple
effect of discrimination against LGBT people and others if Smith wins,
offering a variety of hypothetical situations. Could a commercial
photographer refuse to take pictures of a corporation's female chief
executive? Could a baker refuse to make a birthday cake for a Black child?
Could an architect refuse to design homes for Jewish or Muslim people?
"It's going to be very difficult for them (Supreme Court justices) to draw
lines in any way that is coherent or analytically sound - particularly for
lower courts to apply - that won't just be a get-out-of-jail free card
because, 'I don't want to serve you or employ you,'" said Amanda Shanor,
an expert in constitutional law and free speech at the University of
Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
The Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has become
increasingly supportive of religious rights and related free speech claims
in recent years even as it has backed LGBT rights in other cases. The
court legalized gay marriage nationwide in a landmark 2015 decision.
'LOVE EVERYONE'
Smith and her lawyers maintain that she is not discriminating against
anyone. She would, for example, happily serve an LGBT customer who wants
graphics for an issue she supports like an animal shelter. She objects,
however, to messages that contradict her Christian beliefs.
"My faith has taught me to love everyone, and that's why I work with
everyone through my business. But that also means I can't create every
message," Smith said.
Smith is represented by attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a
conservative religious rights group. The Supreme Court did not take up one
aspect of her challenge to Colorado law based on religious rights also
protected by the First Amendment.
Alliance Defending Freedom previously represented Denver-area bakery owner
Jack Phillips, who ran afoul of Colorado anti-discrimination law when he
refused based on his Christian beliefs to make a wedding cake for two men.
His legal battle with Colorado also reached the Supreme Court, which ruled
narrowly in his favor in 2018. That decision determined that Colorado
officials violated his religious rights but stopping short of carving out
a free speech exemption to anti-discrimination laws.
Smith preemptively sued Colorado's civil rights commission and other state
officials in 2016 because she feared she would be punished for refusing to
serve gay weddings.
Colorado has argued that its Anti-Discrimination Act regulates sales, not
speech, to ensure "equal access and equal dignity." Smith thus is free to
sell whatever she wants, including websites with biblical passages stating
an opposite-sex vision of marriage.
The state warned against endorsing Smith's view of free speech
protections.
"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,"
the state wrote in the brief to the Supreme Court.
"All the Act requires is that the company sell its website-design services
to the public regardless of the customer's sexual orientation, religion or
other protected characteristic. If a customer wanted a different website,
one that the company did not offer, the company need not provide it,"
Colorado added.
The case raises tough questions for the court including who can be
considered an artist entitled to an exception.
President Joe Biden's administration, supporting Colorado in the case,
said Smith's bid for an exemption goes too far because she seeks a right
to refuse to create a wedding website of any kind for a same-sex couple,
even one simply stating logistical details. The administration concedes
that Colorado could not interpret its law to force Smith to create content
praising same-sex marriage or stating that it is consistent with Christian
teachings.
"The government can't force Lorie and people like her to express messages
that go against their deeply held beliefs," said Jacob Warner, an attorney
for Smith.
"Every website she will create will celebrate a view of marriage," Warner
added.
Smith's lawyers said the case is similar to one in which the Supreme Court
in 1995 let organizers of a St. Patrick's Day parade in Boston exclude an
Irish-American LGBT group.
The Supreme Court's ruling is due by the end of June.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/web-designer-opposed-gay-marriage-center-
us-supreme-court-clash-2022-12-02/
us-supreme-court-clash-2022-12-02/
WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The wedding websites that Colorado-based web
designer Lorie Smith would like to create for clients might offer ceremony
details, pictures, a story about the couple and a biblical quote
celebrating how through marriage they "become one flesh."
They would not, however, show same-sex nuptials.
Smith, an evangelical Christian who believes marriage is only between a
man and a woman, has taken her fight to refuse to make wedding websites
for same-sex couples and to advertise that policy to the U.S. Supreme
Court in a major case to be argued on Monday. Smith is appealing lower
court rulings backing Colorado.
The stakes are high, pitting the right of LGBT people to seek goods and
services from businesses without discrimination against the right to free
speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, as asserted by
Smith.
Smith, 38, is married with one child and lives in the Denver suburb of
Littleton. She argues that Colorado anti-discrimination law violates free
speech rights by forcing artists - including web designers - to express
messages through their work that they oppose.
"Colorado is compelling and censoring my speech and forcing me to design
and create custom artwork that celebrates messages that go against my
deeply held beliefs," Smith said in an interview. "My faith is at the core
of who I am."
Public accommodations laws exist in many states, banning discrimination in
areas such as housing, hotels, retail businesses, restaurants and
educational institutions. Colorado first enacted one in 1885. Its current
Anti-Discrimination Act bars businesses open to the public from denying
goods or services to people because of race, gender, sexual orientation,
religion and certain other characteristics, and from displaying a notice
to that effect.
Colorado, civil rights groups and numerous legal scholars warn of a ripple
effect of discrimination against LGBT people and others if Smith wins,
offering a variety of hypothetical situations. Could a commercial
photographer refuse to take pictures of a corporation's female chief
executive? Could a baker refuse to make a birthday cake for a Black child?
Could an architect refuse to design homes for Jewish or Muslim people?
"It's going to be very difficult for them (Supreme Court justices) to draw
lines in any way that is coherent or analytically sound - particularly for
lower courts to apply - that won't just be a get-out-of-jail free card
because, 'I don't want to serve you or employ you,'" said Amanda Shanor,
an expert in constitutional law and free speech at the University of
Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
The Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has become
increasingly supportive of religious rights and related free speech claims
in recent years even as it has backed LGBT rights in other cases. The
court legalized gay marriage nationwide in a landmark 2015 decision.
'LOVE EVERYONE'
Smith and her lawyers maintain that she is not discriminating against
anyone. She would, for example, happily serve an LGBT customer who wants
graphics for an issue she supports like an animal shelter. She objects,
however, to messages that contradict her Christian beliefs.
"My faith has taught me to love everyone, and that's why I work with
everyone through my business. But that also means I can't create every
message," Smith said.
Smith is represented by attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a
conservative religious rights group. The Supreme Court did not take up one
aspect of her challenge to Colorado law based on religious rights also
protected by the First Amendment.
Alliance Defending Freedom previously represented Denver-area bakery owner
Jack Phillips, who ran afoul of Colorado anti-discrimination law when he
refused based on his Christian beliefs to make a wedding cake for two men.
His legal battle with Colorado also reached the Supreme Court, which ruled
narrowly in his favor in 2018. That decision determined that Colorado
officials violated his religious rights but stopping short of carving out
a free speech exemption to anti-discrimination laws.
Smith preemptively sued Colorado's civil rights commission and other state
officials in 2016 because she feared she would be punished for refusing to
serve gay weddings.
Colorado has argued that its Anti-Discrimination Act regulates sales, not
speech, to ensure "equal access and equal dignity." Smith thus is free to
sell whatever she wants, including websites with biblical passages stating
an opposite-sex vision of marriage.
The state warned against endorsing Smith's view of free speech
protections.
"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,"
the state wrote in the brief to the Supreme Court.
"All the Act requires is that the company sell its website-design services
to the public regardless of the customer's sexual orientation, religion or
other protected characteristic. If a customer wanted a different website,
one that the company did not offer, the company need not provide it,"
Colorado added.
The case raises tough questions for the court including who can be
considered an artist entitled to an exception.
President Joe Biden's administration, supporting Colorado in the case,
said Smith's bid for an exemption goes too far because she seeks a right
to refuse to create a wedding website of any kind for a same-sex couple,
even one simply stating logistical details. The administration concedes
that Colorado could not interpret its law to force Smith to create content
praising same-sex marriage or stating that it is consistent with Christian
teachings.
"The government can't force Lorie and people like her to express messages
that go against their deeply held beliefs," said Jacob Warner, an attorney
for Smith.
"Every website she will create will celebrate a view of marriage," Warner
added.
Smith's lawyers said the case is similar to one in which the Supreme Court
in 1995 let organizers of a St. Patrick's Day parade in Boston exclude an
Irish-American LGBT group.
The Supreme Court's ruling is due by the end of June.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/web-designer-opposed-gay-marriage-center-
us-supreme-court-clash-2022-12-02/
Just Wondering
Dec 3, 2022, 12:36:30 PM12/3/22
to
On 12/3/2022 1:26 AM, zinn wrote:
> https://www.reuters.com/world/us/web-designer-opposed-gay-marriage-center-
> us-supreme-court-clash-2022-12-02/
>
> WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The wedding websites that Colorado-based web
> designer Lorie Smith would like to create for clients might offer ceremony
> details, pictures, a story about the couple and a biblical quote
> celebrating how through marriage they "become one flesh."
>
> They would not, however, show same-sex nuptials.
>
> Smith, an evangelical Christian who believes marriage is only between a
> man and a woman, has taken her fight to refuse to make wedding websites
> for same-sex couples and to advertise that policy to the U.S. Supreme
> Court in a major case to be argued on Monday. Smith is appealing lower
> court rulings backing Colorado.
>
> The stakes are high, pitting the right of LGBT people to seek goods and
> services from businesses without discrimination against the right to free
> speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, as asserted by
> Smith.
>
LGBT folks could benefit their community by patronizing LGBT
> https://www.reuters.com/world/us/web-designer-opposed-gay-marriage-center-
> us-supreme-court-clash-2022-12-02/
>
> WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The wedding websites that Colorado-based web
> designer Lorie Smith would like to create for clients might offer ceremony
> details, pictures, a story about the couple and a biblical quote
> celebrating how through marriage they "become one flesh."
>
> They would not, however, show same-sex nuptials.
>
> Smith, an evangelical Christian who believes marriage is only between a
> man and a woman, has taken her fight to refuse to make wedding websites
> for same-sex couples and to advertise that policy to the U.S. Supreme
> Court in a major case to be argued on Monday. Smith is appealing lower
> court rulings backing Colorado.
>
> The stakes are high, pitting the right of LGBT people to seek goods and
> services from businesses without discrimination against the right to free
> speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, as asserted by
> Smith.
>
or pro-LGBT businesses. Apparently they would rather just line
the pockets of lawyers who will take any case for a price.
Josh Rosenbluth
Dec 3, 2022, 1:04:50 PM12/3/22
to
pre-enforcement challenge.
governo...@gmail.com
Dec 3, 2022, 5:31:24 PM12/3/22
to
Swill
--
"Reality is an acquired taste." - Matthew Perry
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