‘Free Speech Is Truly For Everyone’: Colorado Web Designer Speaks Out After SCOTUS Win
The Colorado web designer at the center of a Supreme Court ruling on free speech said Friday she wanted to protect free speech for “everyone” by suing the state.
The Supreme Court decided in 303 Creative v. Elenis that the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act could not compel Lorie Smith to create a website for a same-sex wedding in a 6-3 ruling written by Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch. Smith sued Colorado in 2016 over anti-discrimination laws which she claimed compelled her to express messages that conflicted with her religious beliefs, according to a press release from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represented her.
“I want to create websites that are consistent with my view on marriage and the state of Colorado said, ‘You must set aside your views,’” Lorie Smith, owner of 303 Creative, told Fox News host Martha MacCallum. “I decided to take a stand for freedom, to protect speech. I know that if I want free speech for myself, I must protect it for others and I’m grateful that the court has protected speech for all.”
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“Lorie serves everyone. She always has. She has clients who identify as LGBT and she makes her decisions based on what the message is that’s being requested, not the person who’s requesting it,” ADF attorney Kristen Waggoner said. “Today’s decision assures that public accommodation laws, nondiscrimination laws continue to ensure that we all have access to goods and services, but also it ensures that no one can be compelled by the government to say something that we don’t believe and that protection applies to those who identify as LGBT and who are website designers like Lorie that oppose Lorie’s views as well.”
The Supreme Court struck down admission policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard that took race into account Thursday, with a 6-3 ruling in the case of North Carolina and a 6-2 ruling in the case of Harvard. The colleges were accused of discriminating against white and Asian applicants in favor of black and Hispanic applicants.
“This has been a very difficult seven-year journey and even today receiving quite a bit of backlash. There’s a lot of misunderstanding about my case. This case is about speech,” Smith told MacCallum. “I want free speech for everyone. I have clients from all walks of life, including clients who identify as LGBT and I just want to create consistent with what I believe, but I want that for everyone. I want the LGBT web site designer, the Jewish calligrapher, the Democrat speechwriter, I want everyone to be able to work and design consistently with what they believe, because free speech is truly for everyone.”
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