Supreme Court to Hear LGBTQ+ Rights Case Before End of Year
The U.S. Supreme Court has set December 5 as the date to hear oral arguments in the case of a Colorado web designer who wants to refuse to create wedding websites for same-sex couples.Lorie Smith, owner of 303 Creative, wants to expand her wedding business but says serving same-sex couples would violate her conservative Christian beliefs and her free speech rights.
She filed suit in 2016 challenging Colorado’s LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination law. She lost at the federal district court and appeals court levels.
The Supreme Court agreed in February to hear her case but only on the free speech claim. It announced the date Tuesday.Smith is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, an anti-LGBTQ+ legal nonprofit.
The ADF also represented Colorado baker Jack Phillips, who in 2018 won a measured victory at the high court.Phillips had refused to create a custom wedding cake for a same-sex couple, and the Colorado Civil Rights Commission found that he had violated the state’s antidiscrimination law.
