Firms Balk at Gay Weddings
Firms Balk at Gay Weddings
Photographers, Bakers Face Legal Challenges After Rejecting Jobs on Religious Grounds
BY NATHAN KOPPEL
AND AsHBY JONES
As more states permit gay couples to marry or form civil unions, wedding professionals in at least six states have run headlong into state antidiscrimination laws after refusing for religious reasons to bake cakes, arrange flowers or perform other services for same-sex couples.
The issue gained attention in
August, when the New Mexico
Supreme Court ruled that anAlbuquerque photography business violated state antidiscrimination laws after its owners declined to snap photos of a lesbian couple's commitment ceremony.
Similar cases are pending in
Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oregon and Washington, and some experts think the underlying legal question-whether free-speech and religious rights should allow exceptions to state antidiscrimination laws-could ultimately wind its way to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
Religious-rights advocates argue that the Constitution affords people the right to abstain from a ceremony that violates their religious beliefs. "It's an evisceration
Laws in Conflict
Same-sex marriages have highlighted tensions between antidiscrimination and freespeech measures:
+ Laws in many states ban businesses from discriminating against people based on their sexual orientation.
versus
+ The free-speech
clause in the
First Amendment may protect people from being compelled to speak in favor of issues with which they disagree.
+ The First Amendment also protects the right to 'freely exercise' one's religion.
+ Laws in some states restrict the government from hindering the free exercise of religion.
of our freedom of association,"
· said John Eastman, the chairman of the National Organization for
Marriage, a group opposed to legalizing same-sex marriage.
Supporters of gay marriage argue that the businesses objecting to working on same-sex ceremonies
Photographers, Bakers Face Legal Challenges After Rejecting Jobs on Religious Grounds
BY NATHAN KOPPEL
AND AsHBY JONES
As more states permit gay couples to marry or form civil unions, wedding professionals in at least six states have run headlong into state antidiscrimination laws after refusing for religious reasons to bake cakes, arrange flowers or perform other services for same-sex couples.
The issue gained attention in
August, when the New Mexico
Supreme Court ruled that anAlbuquerque photography business violated state antidiscrimination laws after its owners declined to snap photos of a lesbian couple's commitment ceremony.
Similar cases are pending in
Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oregon and Washington, and some experts think the underlying legal question-whether free-speech and religious rights should allow exceptions to state antidiscrimination laws-could ultimately wind its way to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
Religious-rights advocates argue that the Constitution affords people the right to abstain from a ceremony that violates their religious beliefs. "It's an evisceration
Laws in Conflict
Same-sex marriages have highlighted tensions between antidiscrimination and freespeech measures:
+ Laws in many states ban businesses from discriminating against people based on their sexual orientation.
versus
+ The free-speech
clause in the
First Amendment may protect people from being compelled to speak in favor of issues with which they disagree.
+ The First Amendment also protects the right to 'freely exercise' one's religion.
+ Laws in some states restrict the government from hindering the free exercise of religion.
of our freedom of association,"
· said John Eastman, the chairman of the National Organization for
Marriage, a group opposed to legalizing same-sex marriage.
Supporters of gay marriage argue that the businesses objecting to working on same-sex ceremonies