In 2019, the Washington Supreme Court ruled against a florist who refused to provide services for a gay couple’s wedding. Last year, President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice backed a wedding photographer in Kentucky who sued the city of Louisville over its anti-discrimination ordinance that prohibited her from refusing to serve same-sex couples. District Court for the Western District of New York arguing that the state’s nondiscrimination law unconstitutionally prohibits wedding photographer Emilee Carpenter “from adopting an editorial policy consistent with her beliefs about marriage.” That case is ongoing.Įarlier this month, the ADF filed a lawsuit in the U.S.
The complaint says Carpenter “is already willing to work with clients no matter who they are, including those in the LGBT community” but that the state goes too far by requiring that she “celebrate” same-sex marriage in images on her website. The ADF also argues that part of the state law limiting statements that certain customers are “unwelcome, objectionable or not accepted, desired, or solicited” interferes with Carpenter’s free speech, because it doesn’t allow her to express her views about same-sex marriage on her website. The free speech argument could also represent a potential challenge to the Equality Act, proposed federal legislation that would protect LGBTQ people in many areas.
