‘Shameful erosion.’ LGBT Florida groups react to U.S. Supreme Court First Amendment case

LGBTQ groups and allies say they’re outraged and saddened by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to side with a Christian web designer in Colorado who refused to create websites to celebrate same-sex weddings because of her religious beliefs.

In the 6-3 ruling, the conservative-majority court said that forcing designer Lorie Smith to create websites for same-sex weddings, despite going against her religious beliefs, would violate her free speech rights under the First Amendment.

“The First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands,” wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch in the majority opinion. “Colorado cannot deny that promise consistent with the First Amendment.”

“The decision suggests that artists, photographers, videographers and writers are among those who can refuse to offer what the court called expressive services if doing so would run contrary to their beliefs,” according to The Associated Press. “But that’s different from other businesses not engaged in speech and therefore not covered by the First Amendment, such as restaurants and hotels.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, wrote that the “symbolic effect” of Friday’s decision is “to mark gays and lesbians for second-class status” and that this was the first time in history that the court “grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.”

Here’s what some Florida groups are saying:

▪ Advocacy group Equality Florida said Friday’s ruling “is a narrow but shameful erosion of aspects of nondiscrimination protections.”

“While today’s narrow ruling does not change that ‘open to all’ principle, it creates a foothold for refusing customized, ‘expressive services’ that would compel the creator to share a message with which they disagree,” Equality Florida said in a statement. “The Court had an opportunity to do right by nondiscrimination protections and the LGBTQ community, but chose instead to limit those protections. Importantly, the ruling neither creates a broad license to discriminate nor wholesale repeals vital civil rights protections. LGBTQ people deserve to participate in the public marketplace just like everyone else, regardless of this ruling. The LGBTQ community fought bravely for the equal rights that a party to this case objected to recognizing, and we will continue to fight for full equality everywhere.”

▪ The Pride Center in Wilton Manors said it was disappointed with the court’s ruling but that “the unusual nature of the transaction in the case suggests the ruling has no application to the overwhelming majority of businesses providing goods and services ... We are disappointed that the Court today allowed for the first time a limited First Amendment exemption from laws requiring businesses open to the public to offer the goods and services they sell without discrimination. But the unusual nature of the transaction in the case suggests the ruling has no application to the overwhelming majority of businesses providing goods and services.

▪ From the SAVE Foundation in Miami: “Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court to allow anti-LGBTQ discrimination, under the guise of freedom of speech, marks a sad day for America. By allowing far-right Christians to weaponize religion to harm others, puts people of all faiths at risk if they are in the minority,” the group said in a statement to the Miami Herald. “This is a moment to reflect on the consequences of elections, the independence of the judicial system, and on the fragility of our democracy. We are meant to be a country and a democracy that respects and values everyone that lives here.”

▪ “This is a victory for all Americans,” Anthony Verdugo, founder and executive director of the Christian Family Coalition Florida, told Miami Herald news partner CBS News Miami.