Supreme Court Takes Case Of Web Designer Who Wants To Refuse LGBTQ Clients

Topline

The Supreme Court has taken a case from a Colorado web designer who doesn’t want to create wedding sites for same-sex weddings—claiming anti-discrimination laws would violate her First Amendment rights—in a case that could have large implications for laws protecting LGBTQ rights.

Key Facts

The case centers on Lorie Smith, a Colorado web designer who says she wants to create content “consistent with her faith,” according to court documents, such as wedding websites that are in line with “her understanding of marriage.”

Her legal team says the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act would require her to create websites “celebrating same-sex marriage” and prevents her from posting a statement on her website about only creating content consistent with her religious beliefs.

The Colorado law violates Smith’s rights to free speech and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment, her lawyers argue.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in the fall.

Key Background

In July, an appeals court ruled against Smith and dismissed her claims because Colorado has an interest in protecting its LGBTQ citizens from discrimination. The case could offer more clarification on the 2018 Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling, another case from Colorado dealing with the same anti-discrimination law. The Supreme Court ruled that bakery owner who refused to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples was treated unfairly by Colorado’s civil rights commission because a commissioner was hostile to religion, violating the First Amendment’s condition that governments be neutral to religion. However, the Supreme Court stopped short of ruling on his constitutional claim based on free speech. Since the 2018 ruling, the confirmations of Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – both appointees of President Donald Trump – have made the court more conservative.