The US Supreme Court was yesterday to hear the case of a Christian graphic artist who objects to designing wedding Web sites for gay couples, a dispute that is the latest clash of religion and gay rights to land at the nation’s highest court.
The designer and her supporters say that ruling against her would force artists — from painters and photographers to writers and musicians — to do work that is against their faith.
Her opponents say that if she wins, a range of businesses would be able to discriminate, refusing to serve black customers, Jewish or Muslim people, interracial or interfaith couples, or immigrants, among others.
Photo: Reuters
The case comes at a time when the court is dominated 6-3 by conservatives and following a series of cases in which the justices have sided with religious plaintiffs. It also comes as, across the street from the court, lawmakers in the US Congress are finalizing a landmark bill protecting same-sex marriage.
The bill, which also protects interracial marriage, steadily gained momentum following the court’s decision earlier this year to end constitutional protections for abortion.
That decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade case prompted questions about whether the court — now that it is more conservative — might also overturn its 2015 decision declaring a nationwide right to same-sex marriage. Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly said that decision should also be reconsidered.
The case being argued before the court involves Lorie Smith, a graphic artist and Web site designer in Colorado who wants to begin offering wedding Web sites. Smith says her Christian faith prevents her from creating Web sites celebrating same-sex marriages, but that could get her in trouble with state law.
Colorado has what is called a public accommodation law that says if Smith offers wedding Web sites to the public, she must provide them to all customers.
Five years ago, the Supreme Court heard a different challenge involving Colorado’s law and a baker, Jack Phillips, who objected to designing a wedding cake for a gay couple. That case ended with a limited decision and set up a return of the issue to the court.
Like Phillips, Smith says her objection is not to working with gay people. She says she would work with a gay client who needed help with graphics for an animal rescue shelter, for example, or to promote an organization serving children with disabilities, but she objects to creating messages supporting same-sex marriage, just as she would not take jobs that would require her to create content promoting atheism or gambling, or supporting abortion.
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