SCOTUS: Web Designer Can't Be Forced to Support Same-Sex Weddings

Facts

• The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled in favor of Colorado web designer Lorie Smith, who challenged her state’s anti-discrimination law that she said would require her to violate her Christian faith by offering her company's — 303 Creative — web design services for same-sex weddings.¹
• The 6-3 decision broke down along ideological lines with the high court’s conservative justices overturning a lower court ruling that rejected Smith’s request for a religious exemption from Colorado’s law.²
• Smith, who adheres to the Christian belief that marriage is between one man and one woman, sued the state in 2016, but critics say she was never actually asked to design a website for same-sex couples. However, legal experts say an individual request is irrelevant when considering the implications of the law.³
• While Smith argued that Colorado’s law violated her First Amendment right to free speech, adding that her religious “disagreement isn’t discrimination,” her opponents say that a ruling in her favor offers a license to discriminate on racial and other grounds.⁴
• In the majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that the First Amendment protects all Americans’ right to “think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands.” Justice Sotomayor dissented, calling the decision “heartbreaking” and a “reactionary exclusion” against LGBTQ people.⁵
• Friday’s decision comes a day after SCOTUS delivered a landmark decision against race-based admissions practices. On Friday, the high court also ruled against Pres. Joe Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan would eliminate up to $20K of debt per student and cost more than $400B.⁶

Sources: ¹Guardian, ²Reuters, ³BBC News, ⁴ABC7 Los Angeles, ⁵Axios, and ⁶NBC.

Narratives

• Right narrative, as provided by Alpha News. The Supreme Court’s decision to protect Christians’ right to free speech is a massive win not only for people of faith, but it is also a resounding affirmation of the First Amendment. Justice Gorsuch and his conservative colleagues understand that the Constitution explicitly protects the right to speak freely and prohibits the state from forcing speech. While the left-wing establishment thinks that free speech only applies to radical ideologues who force a warped sense of morality on others, SCOTUS knows that free speech applies to all of us — even Christians.
• Left narrative, as provided by Daily Beast. The US Supreme Court has unapologetically endorsed discrimination against LGBTQ people as the radical right wing looks to undo decades of progress. Many in America will hide behind the First Amendment as an excuse to deny the rights of marginalized peoples. Friday’s decision is even inconsistent with previous rulings on the topic of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and shows that this court doesn’t care about the Constitution — it's only concerned with regressive policies.