In a 6-3 vote June 30, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado web designer who doesn’t want to design wedding websites for same-sex couples because it goes against her religious beliefs.
The court said the designer’s First Amendment rights bar Colorado anti-discrimination law from forcing her to create expressive designs with messages the designer doesn’t agree with.
“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,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, said, “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.”
Colorado designer Lorie Smith, who runs a web design company called 303 Creative, has said she should not be required to create wedding websites for same-sex couples based on her Christian beliefs about marriage.