Supreme Court Rules Christian Web Design Company Does Not Have to Promote Gay Weddings

The US Supreme Court struck a blow for religious freedom ruling that a Colorado law that prohibits so-called discrimination against LGBTQIA2S+ customers is unconstitutional insofar as it compels businesses to endorse political and religious positions at odds with those of the speaker. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Lorie Smith, owner of a web design company called 303 Creative LLC, could not be forced to create websites for homosexual “weddings” because that would require her to endorse and promote something offensive to her as a Christian.

Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch said:

The First Amendment’s protections belong to all, not just to speakers whose motives the government finds worthy. In this case, 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.”

The result, in this case, is not unexpected, as the oral arguments indicated that a majority of justices agreed that forcing Ms. Smith to tout parodies of weddings in opposition to her religious beliefs was unconstitutional, see Supreme Court Signals It Will Side With Website Designer Who Refused to Create Sites for Gay Marriages.

This case has echoes of Jack Phillips and the saga of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, who was attacked and demonized because he refused to create a cake for a homosexual wedding. The Supreme Court decision, in that case, was so narrowly crafted that it accomplished little beyond opening Phillips up to more harassment by Colorado’s leftist government; see Supreme Court Agrees to Hear the Case of the Baker Forced Into Gay Serfdom, The Masterpiece Cakeshop Decision Is More of a Dire Warning Than a Cause for Celebration, and Only Bakery in Colorado Again Under Attack by Anti-Christian Activists.

Hopefully, this case will make it clear once and for all that religion does not have to yield to the celebration of sexual perversion.