Supreme Court Sides With Christian Graphic Designer Who Refused To Work On Same-Sex Weddings
By Mairead Elordi
The Supreme Court on Friday sided with a Christian graphic designer who refuses to work on same-sex weddings.
In a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the court ruled that Colorado cannot force graphic designer Lorie Smith to create designs celebrating same-sex marriage.
“The First Amendment prohibits Colorado from forcing a website designer to create expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority.
The court’s case resolves 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, which pitted Smith’s graphic and web design company against the state of Colorado.
Smith said she is willing to work with anyone regardless of their sexual orientation, but she should not be forced to build wedding websites for same-sex couples because same-sex marriage goes against her deeply held beliefs.
“There are some messages I can’t create no matter who requests them,” Smith said in December.
Smith said she delayed expanding her business to start designing wedding websites because she was worried her beliefs would bump up against a Colorado public accommodations law. Colorado argued that Smith simply wanted to discriminate against same-sex couples and said the public accommodations law governs the conduct, not the speech of a person running a Colorado business.