The Supreme Court on Friday ended its
yearly term with a decision that critics say undermines LGBTQ
protections laws.
In 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis,
the high court ruled 6-3 in favor of Lorie Smith, the Christian owner
of 303 Creative, who challenged a Colorado law prohibiting
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, among
other characteristics.
Smith, who is represented by the
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an Arizona-based group opposed to
LGBTQ rights, argued in her lawsuit that the law stifles her free
speech rights because it would force her to create wedding websites
for gay and lesbian couples. Smith has yet to create such websites
and has not been asked to by a gay couple.
Smith argued that creating wedding
websites for gay couples would violate her Christian beliefs.
In its decision written by Justice Neil
Gorsuch, the court said that 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.”
The court's liberal justices disagreed,
warning that the ruling will open the door to widespread
discrimination.
“Today, the Court, for the first time
in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional
right to refuse to serve members of a protected class,” Justice
Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and
Ketanji Brown Jackson.
“Today is a sad day in American
constitutional law and in the lives of LGBT people,” she wrote.
“[T]he immediate, symbolic effect of the decision is to mark gays
and lesbians for second-class status.”
President Joe Biden, a strong supporter
of LGBTQ rights, called the ruling “disappointing,” adding that
it “weakens long-standing laws that protect all Americans against
discrimination in public accommodations – including people of
color, people with disabilities, people of faith, and women.”