The state of Colorado can force a Christian web designer to create a website for same-sex weddings under a new federal court decision that upheld the state’s anti-discrimination law.
At issue is the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations.
Lorie Smith, a Christian web designer and the owner of 303 Creative, sued the state, saying she wants to use her gifts to “celebrate and promote God’s design for marriage as an institution between one man and one woman.” Under Colorado law, though, Smith must design websites promoting same-sex weddings if she designs websites promoting weddings between one man and one woman. The law also prohibits her from stating her beliefs about marriage on her business website.
On Monday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Colorado law and affirmed a lower court ruling that had sided with the state. The judges were split, 2-1.
The Majority Opinion read: “We must consider the grave harms caused when public accommodations discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. Combatting such discrimination is, like individual autonomy, ‘essential’ to our democratic ideals.”
Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Smith, said it will file an appeal. ADF called the decision “unprecedented.”