Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Emilee Carpenter is a Christian photographer and blogger in New York who loves to photograph weddings. She believes marriage is the union between one man and one woman and chooses not to provide services for “weddings” involving two people of the same sex.
Under state non-discrimination laws, Carpenter would face punitive fines, a suspended business license, and jail time if she refuses to provide services for homosexual “weddings.”
In her lawsuit against the state, Carpenter contended that the laws would violate her First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, speech, and free association.
A lower court dismissed all of Carpenter’s claims. An appeals court upheld her freedom of speech claim, dismissed the rest, and sent the case back to the lower court to re-hear in light of 303 Creative v. Elenis (2023). The Supreme Court ruled in that case that requiring a Christian photographer to speak a message she opposes violated her freedom of speech.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Carpenter’s legal counsel, announced that the lower court has halted enforcement of the laws against her.
The lower court followed the high court’s precedent in 303 Creative and ruled that New York cannot enforce the laws against her. The decision is narrow. The court issued an injunction “barring Defendants from applying New York’s public accommodation laws ‘peculiarly to compel expressive activity’ with which Plaintiff disagrees.” Carpenter remains subject to public accommodation laws.
Christian business owners are not out to deny services to homosexuals, including men who enter their businesses wearing dresses and makeup. What Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Carpenter, and others refuse to do is use their artistic talents for “expressive activity to compel speech.”
(Phillips won at the Supreme Court in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018) after the commission ruled that he discriminated against two homosexuals when he declined to make a custom cake for their “wedding.” The court ruled 7-2 that the commission violated the Free Exercise Clause and was hostile to Phillips’s religious views.)
Anyone can walk into Masterpiece Cakeshop, for example, and buy any cake off the shelf. But Phillips has the right to refuse to make a custom cake for “weddings” or “gender transitions.” He said he doesn’t make custom Halloween or bachelor party cakes, either.
“The U.S. Constitution protects Emilee’s freedom to express her own views as she continues to serve clients of all backgrounds and beliefs,” said Bryan Neihart, senior counsel at ADF. “The district court rightly upheld this freedom and followed Supreme Court precedent. Emilee can now enjoy the freedom to create and express herself, a freedom that protects all Americans regardless of their views.”
Photo credit: Alliance Defending Freedom
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