KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The United States Supreme Court handed down an opinion on the last day of Pride month that has major implications for the LGBTQ+ community.
Justices issued a 6-3 decision Friday on a case brought by a Colorado-based web designer who did not want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples.
The high court ruled in her favor, limiting the federal protections in place for LGBTQ+ Americans.
“Like many of the recent opinions, the impact is going to be very broad,” Brendan T. Beery, a law professor at WMU-Cooley Law School, explained to FOX 17 Friday. “There are, as so often the case, as many questions as answers after this opinion has been issued.”
Lorie Smith, a web designer based in Colorado, requested an exemption to the state’s anti-discrimination law because she did not want to sell wedding websites to same-sex couples.
When her exemption was denied, she sued. A lower court ruled against her, she appealed and her case ended up in the hands of SCOTUS.
“The court seems to be saying, and has been moving in this direction for a while, not just under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, but the Free Exercise Clause as well, that private parties are allowed to discriminate against LGBTQ Americans,” Beery said.
The top court used the Free Speech Clause and the Free Exercise Clause in our First Amendment to justify their opinion.
Justice Neil Gorsuch added that Colorado’s law would have forced Smith to create speech she does not believe in.
“It’s a departure from the typical posture of the court, which is that discrimination in public accommodations is not speech, right? That is something that the government can reach and prohibit…I can’t see any limit on, at this point, on a public accommodation,” Beery said. “Certainly, people’s eyes have to be opening to the importance of the Judicial branch on both sides, right?”
President Joe Biden responded Friday by criticizing the ruling and saying, “In America, no person should face discrimination simply because of who they are or who they love.”
“Under a number of different First Amendment ideas, whether it’s religion, speech or association, the court, it seems to be moving in a single direction and it’s notable that this is the only basis that the court seems to, where the Supreme Court seems to tolerate discrimination of this kind,” Beery added.
FOX 17 reached out to the city of Grand Rapids to see if this decision will impact the city’s Human Rights Ordinance. City officials said they are reviewing the case and do not have a comment yet.
