The march towards LGBTQ+ legal equality was dealt a significant blow on Friday with the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis.
The Court ruled that: “The First Amendment prohibits Colorado from forcing a website designer to create expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees.”
Despite reporting that the Lorie Smith, the plaintiff, completely fabricated the story that a gay couple asked her to create their wedding website, the Court established a clear — and many say discriminatory — precedent.
As Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, “Today, the Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.”
In Ohio, there are no statewide protections for the LGBTQ+ community in the areas of housing, employment or public accommodations. This week, the Ohio Fairness Act — SB 132 — was introduced for the 11th time to grant those protections.
LGBTQ+ leaders and orgs were quick to respond on Friday to the Supreme Court’s ruling. We have collected some of those reactions here:
Shannon G. Hardin, Columbus City Council President
Equality Ohio
Stonewall Columbus
The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland
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