The Supreme Court issued its first opinion of the day on Friday in the case of 303 Creative v. Elenis, ruling 6-3 in favor of graphic designer Lorie Smith, who claimed she should be allowed to refuse graphic design services to LGBTQ couples.
As with the cases concerning affirmative action and student loan debt relief, the justices ruled along party lines, with all six Republican-appointed judges in the majority and all three Democrat-appointed judges dissenting.
Smith, who has yet to even begin doing business creating wedding websites, fabricated a hypothetical situation in which she would be faced with being hired by a gay couple. Even the court acknowledged the hypotheticals of this situation, with Justice Neil Gorsuch, who penned the majority opinion, writing that “while Ms. Smith has laid the groundwork for her new venture, she has yet to carry out her plans.”
If the basis of this case sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the second to be brought before the court by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a religious group that discriminates against LGBTQ folks and represented Smith. ADF attorneys also represented Masterpiece Cakeshop in 2018, the Colorado bakery that refused to serve a same-sex couple.
As with Smith’s case, the services being denied to LGBTQ folks were wedding-related. In 2012, Charlie Craig and David Mullins tried to place a custom wedding cake order with Masterpiece Cakeshop, which declined to take their order because owner Jack Phillips said he does not do business with LGBTQ couples.
The Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling on Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission ultimately went in favor of the business, but was far less sweeping as Friday’s decision. LGBTQ rights advocates worry this could open the door to widespread discrimination for not just the LGBTQ community but all marginalized people.
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