Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
A Christian filmmaking husband and wife sued the state of Minnesota over a law that would force them to use their artistic talents to promote homosexual “marriage.”
If they make films promoting actual marriage, they must also make films promoting the profaning of marriage.
A federal court denied their request for an injunction, but Carl and Angel Larsen asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to hear their case.
The court heard arguments and ruled in their favor on Friday.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) announced their important court victory (emphasis added):
In its opinion in Telescope Media Group v. Lucero, the 8th Circuit wrote, “Carl and Angel Larsen wish to make wedding videos. Can Minnesota require them to produce videos of same-sex weddings, even if the message would conflict with their own beliefs? The district court concluded that it could and dismissed the Larsens’ constitutional challenge to Minnesota’s antidiscrimination law. Because the First Amendment allows the Larsens to choose when to speak and what to say, we reverse the dismissal of two of their claims and remand with instructions to consider whether they are entitled to a preliminary injunction….”
As ADF characterizes the decision, the Eighth Circuit, which has jurisdiction over several states, including Arkansas, Iowa, and Nebraska, reinstated the couple’s First Amendment rights. What the lower court will decide in light of this decision is a mystery.
