In the recent SCOTUS ruling
303 Creative LLC v. Elenis ruled that Colorado graphic designer Lorie Smith does not 'have' to make a website for a gay couple's wedding.
Noted SPLC-labeled hate group the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) - which also defended the Jack Phillips' case. The Colorado state court had found that baker Jack Phillips' decision to turn away David Mullins and Charlie Craig in 2012 was unlawful discrimination.
Rghts groups feared the ruling against the couple could set precedent for treating gay marriages differently from heterosexual unions. But the Supreme Court's verdict instead focused specifically on Mr Phillips' case.
Back at it again, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) took to defend Smith's graphic design and web design business, arguing that her work was "art" and that she shouldn't be required to produce "art" for people who are doing things that are against her religion.
The Supreme Court ruled that Smith does not "have" to make websites for same-sex marriages, regardless of Colorado's anti-discrimination law barring discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
Judge Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion:
"Colorado seeks to force an individual to speak in ways that align with its views but defy her conscience about a matter of major significance. In the past, other States in Barnette, Hurley, and Dale have similarly tested the First Amendment’s boundaries by seeking to compel speech they thought vital at the time. But abiding the Constitution’s commitment to the freedom of speech means all will encounter ideas that are 'misguided, or even hurtful.' Consistent with the First Amendment, the Nation’s answer is tolerance, not coercion. 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. Colorado cannot deny that promise consistent with the First Amendment."
This decision opens the door for any business to discriminate against protected classes of people so long as they claim that what they are doing is "art" or some other form of personal expression. Given that many people feel that way about their work, it's going to go a lot further than just some rinky dink graphic designer in Colorado. Literally anyone in a customer-facing position could also claim that helping or interacting with someone of a protected class is "compelled speech."
According to various
media reports, the Colorado web designer who the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday could refuse to make wedding websites for gay couples cited a request from a man who says he never asked to work with her - making this hypothetical case - the first in SCOTUS history, to be ruled upon. This is historic.
This decision has also effectively made protected classes second-class citizens taking second position to a business owners sincerely held beliefs.
