Christian Calligraphers Lose First Battle in Quest to Discriminate Against Same-Sex Couples
oh Noes! They are throwing the Christians to the legal lions again!
With support from the anti-LGBT Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, co-owners of the Brush & Nib calligraphy studio, filed suit in May challenging Phoenix’s ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public accommodations. Though they have not yet been asked to provide invitations or other designs for a same-sex wedding, they want to overturn the law so that their eventual refusal to do so won’t be illegal.
On Monday, Judge Karen Mullins rejected the artists’ claim that being required to serve same-sex couples violated their freedoms of speech and religion. She denied them a preliminary injunction as the case proceeds, sending a not-so-subtle hint that their pro-discrimination claims aren’t going to get very far.
ADF had argued that if Brush & Nib is forced to create products that are used in a same-sex wedding, it would constitute compelled speech. Mullins countered that “the only thing compelled by the ordinance is the sale of goods and services to persons regardless of their sexual orientation.” Duka and Koski are perfectly free to publicly state their religious views concerning same-sex marriage and same-sex sexual activity — so long as they don’t publicize an intention to discriminate in their business.
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