Greenberg rejects Cameron's call to drop appeal in Fairness Ordinance case

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg on Thursday vowed to continue to defend Louisville’s Fairness Ordinance despite last week’s Supreme Court ruling that appeared to weaken laws banning discrimination against gays.

In a 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the First Amendment right of a Colorado web designer to refuse to design wedding sites for same-sex couples, despite a state law that forbids discrimination against gay people.

After the ruling, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Republican candidate for governor, called on Metro Louisville to drop its appeal of a federal court ruling in favor of a Louisville wedding photographer who successfully argued the city could not compel her to photograph same-sex weddings she says are inconsistent with her religious beliefs.

U.S. District Judge Benjamin Beaton also said in his ruling last August that the city could not use the Fairness Ordinance to prohibit photographer Chelsey Nelson from advertising that she only photographs opposite-sex ceremonies.

Louisville Metro appealed the decision to the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals, where it is pending.

In a letter Wednesday, Cameron asked Greenberg to abandon the appeal and follow the Supreme Court’s lead in respecting “the right of every Louisvillian to speak according to his or her conscience.”

“Louisville is my home — the place Makenze and I are raising our son — and I want him to grow up in a city where he is safe, free to practice his faith, and not persecuted by his government,” Cameron said in a statement.

But Greenberg fired back, saying in a statement the arguments against the Fairness Ordinance and against treating “all citizens with respect are not new — they are tired and old arguments from a past that most of us are happy to leave behind.”

He said the city of Louisville will continue to defend the Fairness Ordinance and continue working to be “an inclusive city where everyone is welcome.”

He also said that for “decades, the Louisville Fairness Ordinance has expressed the will of our community and it enshrines our commitment to ensuring every member of our diverse city is treated with respect and dignity.”

In August 2020, when another federal judge issued a preliminary ruling in Nelson’s favor, Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell said the city would continue to enforce the ordinance, which forbids discrimination in employment, housing and public. O’Connell said the ruling only applied to Nelson.

The city filed an appeal of Beaton’s final ruling in October.

Nelson’s lawyers declined to comment on the city’s decision to continue its appeal.

In an interview, Chris Hartman, the head of the Fairness Campaign, acknowledged it will be difficult for the city to prevail, given the ruling in Colorado. But he hailed Greenberg for pressing on with the appeal.

“It is entirely appropriate because the courts must provide more clarity on which businesses get to discriminate,” he said.

“I get the Supreme Court is saying that businesses that engage in artistic expression” are protected by the First Amendment. “But where do you draw the line? If I am getting my burger customized at McDonald’s is that artistic expression?”

But Nelson's lawyers at Alliance Defending Freedom say the Colorado decision for "303 Creative" is decisive for Nelson's case.

Jonathan Scruggs, senior counsel for ADF, said Louisville's attorneys already admitted that these cases were “nearly identical.”

"It is futile and a waste of taxpayer dollars for Louisville to continue litigating this case," he said. "Regardless, we are confident that the Sixth Circuit will recognize the relevance of 303 Creative and apply it to protect Chelsey. No one should be forced by the government to speak messages they don’t believe in.”

Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 396-5853 or awolfson@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville mayor rejects call to drop appeal in Fairness Ordinance case