I Was Part of 303 Creative's Case. I Back Gay Marriage—but SCOTUS Is Right

Contents:

• ‘IT IS SO ORRED.’ SUPREME COURT JTIC ON GAY MARRIAGE CISN
• GAY RIGHTS VS. FREE SPEECHSUPREME COURT BACKS WEB DIGNER OPPOSED TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
• I WAS PART OF 303 CREATIVE'S CASE. I BACK GAY MARRIAGE—BUT SCOTUS IS RIGHT
• WHAT THE SUPREME COURT'S GAY WEDDG WEBSE LG MEANS FOR LGBTQ RIGHTS
• CALIFORNIA VOTERS WILL BE ASKED TO REAFFIRM GAY MARRIAGE PROTECTNS ON 2024 BALLOT
• THE VIEW STAR REVEALS WHY SHE AGRE WH SUPREME COURT LG FOR SIGNER WHO OPPOS GAY MARRIAGE

‘IT IS SO ORRED.’ SUPREME COURT JTIC ON GAY MARRIAGE CISN

When Print Barack Obama threw his admistratn’s support behd a challenge to Proposn 8, the gay-marriage ban enacted by California voters 2008, his Jtice Department troduced what amounted to a bizarre promise. Proposed that the Supreme Court le that stat like California, which had extend gay men’s and lbians’ “marriage le” alternativ like domtic partnership or civil unn, were vlatn of the nstutnal prohibn agast “separate but equal”—but was fe to offer no regnn at all. The proposal was signed to ensure that no state would have to beg validatg gay or lbian fai unr the force of a urt orr.

But a simultaneo lg by the urt that the Defense of Marriage Act was unnstutnal dramatilly changed gay-rights ligators’ view of what was possible. Acrdg to the urt’s applitn of the equal-protectn clse, such a termatn would subject not only the marriage bans but a whole range of feral, state and lol laws that disadvantaged gay men and lbians (and possibly transgenred people, as well) to a higher level of judicial scty.

Yet Jtice Anthony Kennedy, who had prevly wrten three watershed opns that had helped to tablish the full cizenship of gay men and lbians, had nsistently cled to see the s on those terms. He knew he was wrg for history, and that passage immediately adorned merchandise—to this day Etsy remas filled wh posters and noterds featurg Kennedy’s words—and is now often read at weddg ceremoni for both straight and gay upl.

GAY RIGHTS VS. FREE SPEECHSUPREME COURT BACKS WEB DIGNER OPPOSED TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

To some extent, this was a reflectn of the broar succs that gay-marriage mpaigners had had the polil sphere. While a feral urt ced Obergefell 2016 as a basis to strike down Mississippi’s ban on adoptn by gay upl, s impact has been barely felt areas beyond fay law.

Ined, the years sce, gay-rights advot and ligators have been fightg many of the same issu they nonted years, even s, earlier. Clayton County, the Supreme Court led that gay men, lbians, bisexual and transgenr people uld already not be nied work based on the law’s cln of “sex” as a basis on which employment discrimatn was prohibed. Kennedy, who wrote the majory opn, said that gay and lbian upl have a fundamental right to marry.

Acrdg to the Texas judicial missn’s 2019 warng, Hensley referred gay upl who wanted her to pri over their marriage ceremony to other people who would officiate. Kennedy, then the center of the High Court, rejected the optns before him, cidg agast sidg wh a same-sex uple who had been nied a ke for their Colorado weddg receptn and agast sidg wh the baker who said his oven was off-lims to gay upl. Jt a few weeks ago, when Transportatn Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the natn’s hight-rankg Senate-nfirmed gay member of the Bin Admistratn, joed TIME’s Washgton Bure for a wi-rangg nversatn, he was blunt: “I mean, Roe fell and that was the law of the land for longer than I’ve been alive.

I WAS PART OF 303 CREATIVE'S CASE. I BACK GAY MARRIAGE—BUT SCOTUS IS RIGHT

ImageLorie Smh said her Christian fah requir her to turn away ctomers seekg servic to celebrate same-sex Woolf for The New York TimThe Supreme Court sid on Friday wh a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right to refe to sign weddg webs for same-sex upl spe a state law that forbids discrimatn agast gay people.

’”The se, though amed as a clash between ee speech and gay rights, was the latt a seri of cisns favor of relig people and groups, notably nservative cisn also appeared to suggt that the rights of L. The liberal jtic viewed as somethg else entirely — a dispute that threatened societal protectns for gay rights and rolled back some recent an impassned dissent, Jtice Sonia Sotomayor warned that the oute signaled a return to a time when people of lor and other mory groups faced open discrimatn. ”A Colorado law forbids discrimatn agast gay people by bs open to the public as well as statements announcg such discrimatn.

The dissentg jtic, he wrote, foced on “the stris gay Amerins have ma towards securg equal jtice unr law.

WHAT THE SUPREME COURT'S GAY WEDDG WEBSE LG MEANS FOR LGBTQ RIGHTS

Kavangh and Amy Coney Barrett, shifted the urt to the urts have generally sid wh gay and lbian upl who were refed service by bakeri, florists and others, lg that potential ctomers are entled to equal treatment, at least parts of the untry wh laws forbiddg discrimatn based on sexual owners of bs challengg those laws have argued that the ernment should not force them to choose between the requirements of their fahs and their livelihoods. A baker refed to make a weddg ke for their receptn on relig Cote for The New York TimHad there been an actual gay person who was refed a weddg-related service at the center of 303 Creative L. Dale that the anizatn uld exclu gay sutmasters bee opposn to homosexualy is part of the anizatn’s “exprsive msage.

Irish-Amerin Gay, Lbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc., a se om 1995 which the urt sid wh the anizers of a veterans para that blocked a group of gay, lbian and bisexual people om marchg the event. Jtice Sotomayor seemed pecially ncerned about the way the urt’s opn would send a disapprovg msage to the public about people who are gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr, or who were same-sex relatnships.

Addnally, several stat terpret existg laws agast sex discrimatn to apply to bias relatg to sexual orientatn and genr inty, even though they do not have laws explicly forbiddg such stat that do not offer protectns to gay and transgenr people on those grounds, municipal laws ver many Human Rights Campaign, an L. McCoy for The New York TimThe urt’s cisn favor of a Colorado web signer, Lorie Smh, had an unual feature: It was based on njecture and Smh, who objects to providg weddg-related servic for same-sex marriag, never turned down a gay uple. ETFriday’s lg was another reassurg cisn for relig celebratory moment outsi the Supreme Court on Friday, after the urt livered the latt a strg of judgments favor of relig Zuhaib/Associated PrsConservativ who have moral and theologil objectns to gay marriage saw the Supreme Court’s cisn on Friday as reassurance that they would be able to assert their beliefs a public square that they see as creasgly hostile to a 6-to-3 vote, spl along iologil l, the jtic agreed wh a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right to refe to provi servic for same-sex marriag, spe a state law that forbids discrimatn agast gay people.

CALIFORNIA VOTERS WILL BE ASKED TO REAFFIRM GAY MARRIAGE PROTECTNS ON 2024 BALLOT

”Acrdg to pollg om 2021 by the Public Relign Rearch Instute, majori of most major relig groups — cludg Catholics, Jews and Mlims — oppose allowg small-bs owners to refe to serve gay and lbian people on relig grounds. Smh and her lawyers have emphasized that her objectn is not to workg wh same-sex upl or gay dividuals, but to signg webs for gay weddgs. Several siar s have centered on nservative Christian small bs owners who object to workg on gay weddgs specifilly, cludg a baker Colorado, two vatn signers Arizona and a Kentucky-based a news nference shortly after the lg was issued, Krist Waggoner, general unsel for Alliance Defendg Freedom, which reprented Ms.

” She said her nsiratn acceptg work as a webse signer was the “msage” of the se, not the inty of the Smh’s portfol clus webs for church, real tate pani and polil many nservative Christians hailed the cisn on Friday, drew cricism om some progrsive Christians and terfah groups, cludg those that serve gay people of fah. “Broad exemptns to allow relig-based discrimatn hurts people of fah, too, ” Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Mistry, which advot for gay Catholics, said a statement.

McCoy for The New York TimGay and transgenr rights anizatns on Friday nmned the Supreme Court lg backg a Colorado webse signer’s bid to refe to provi servic for same-sex marriag, llg the cisn a dangero backslidg on L. ETHere’s how urt battl over servg same-sex upl have played out the Cote for The New York TimIn the latt se volvg same-sex marriage rights, relig eedom and discrimatn, the Supreme Court on Friday led favor of a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right not to provi servic for same-sex marriag spe a state law that bans discrimatn agast gay ’s a brief look at some of the most proment s before Friday’s:A Colorado baker ws urtIn June 2018, the Supreme Court led favor of a Colorado baker who refed to bake a weddg ke for a gay uple. Kennedy wrote that the missn’s members had acted wh “clear and impermissible hostily” to people wh scerely held relig Bra, a kemaker prevailsBra’s Supreme Court led favor of a bakery October 2018 that had refed to make a ke bearg the slogan “Support Gay Marriage, ” sayg the refal was not discrimatory.

THE VIEW STAR REVEALS WHY SHE AGRE WH SUPREME COURT LG FOR SIGNER WHO OPPOS GAY MARRIAGE

The urt’s cisn mak easier for bs Bra to cle ctomer requts that are at odds wh their dispute began 2014, when Gareth Lee, a gay rights activist Northern Ireland, sought to buy a ke for a party om Ashers Bakg Company Belfast that showed two “Same Street” characters, Bert and Ernie; a logo for his group, QueerSpace; and the slogan supportg gay marriage.