The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of a website developer that refused to make websites for same-sex weddings, recognizing discrimination in the business sector for the first time.
Companies with creative value services can exercise their freedom of expression to avoid providing a service that goes against their values, a higher body ruled by a majority of six of the nine justices.
The First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees free speech, “treats America as a rich and complex place where people are free to think and express what they want, not the demands of government,” wrote Magistrate Neil Gorsuch on them. On behalf of
“Colorado is trying to renege on that promise,” he adds.
Since 2008, the state has prohibited businesses from practicing discrimination based on sexual orientation under a fine of up to $500.
The law has already been challenged by a Christian pastry chef who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.
The Supreme Court agreed with him in 2018, but on technical grounds, without laying down key principles.
A website creator, Lori Smith, has filed a complaint against a Colorado law that, she says, forces her to publish “a message” contrary to her Christian beliefs.
He won his case on Friday, with the court ruling that even though his activity was commercial, it was subject to freedom of expression.
“Determining what constitutes an express activity protected by the First Amendment sometimes raises difficult questions, but it does not in this case,” wrote Neil Gorsuch, supported by the court’s five other conservative justices.
Just the day before, when the high court struck down the university’s affirmative action policies, three progressive justices forcefully expressed their dissent.
“Today the Court, for the first time in its history, has granted a constitutional right to a business to refuse to serve the public,” lamented Justice Sonia Sotomayor on behalf of customers protected by anti-discrimination laws.
