Free Republic

A Christian wedding photographer has filed a complaint against New York over a state law that requires her to service same-sex wedding ceremonies despite her religious objections. Emilee Carpenter of Emilee Carpenter Photography sued multiple state officials, with the lawsuit being filed Tuesday in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. Named defendants include New York Attorney General Letitia James; Jonathan J. Smith, interim commissioner of the New York State Division of Human Rights; and Weeden Wetmore, district attorney of Chemung County. At issue, according to the litigation, are provisions in state law that require...

Christian artists Breanna Koski (L) and Joanna Duka say they cannot create art for events that celebrate same-sex marriage. | (Photo: Alliance Defending Freedom) A pair of Christian artists cannot be forced by a city ordinance to make wedding invitations for same-sex marriages, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday.In Brush & Nib v. City of Phoenix, Arizona’s highest court ruled that Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush & Nib Studio, cannot be compelled by a local antidiscrimination ordinance to provide their services to same-sex weddings.Writing for the majority, Justice Andrew Gould concluded that the city of Phoenix “cannot...

The Supreme Court has said not yet to a second helping of cake. Justices announced today that they won’t hear a new case on the religious freedom and free speech rights of bakers who refuse to sell custom wedding cakes to same-sex couples for religious reasons. But they did send it back to the lower courts for reconsideration. That means questions left unanswered in last year’s ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission will remain unanswered for now. The new case, which originated in Oregon, features a family-owned bakery, Sweetcakes by Melissa, and a lesbian couple. It...

A court in Arizona has rejected arguments of evangelical Christian wedding invitation designers that a Phoenix ordinance protecting discrimination against LGBT people forces them to make artwork for same-sex couples, which is against their religious beliefs and freedoms of speech and religion. The Christians plan to appeal. Judge Karen Mullins of Maricopa County Superior Court this week ruled that the Phoenix ordinance does not violate Arizona's free speech and free exercise of religion laws, quashing an attempt by Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush & Nib Studio, to override the ordinance, AZ Central reported. The Phoenix non-discrimination ordinance...

A pair of Arizona-based Christian artists is challenging the local law that threatens to fine and imprison them for refusing to make same-sex wedding invitations. Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush & Nib Studio in Phoenix, lost a case at trial level which accused them of violating a local ordinance that protects homosexuals from discrimination, Fox News reported. The ordinance also prevents the business owners from publicly explaining their convictions or even defending their decision lest they face jail time for that as well. This apparent violation of the First Amendment protection of free speech is at the...

While Rowan County, Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis was dealing with prison time for refusing to issue marriage licences to gay couples on Thursday last week, the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) held its first same-sex wedding ceremony for partners Paul Kempf and Robb Gwaltney, who said their vows in the Presbyterian Center chapel in Louisville, Kentucky."The concept of biblical marriage is very different [from] our modern views," said Pastor David Maxwell, who also presided over their wedding. "No biblical writer would have envisioned what we think of as a good marriage today—with concepts of equality and mutuality."Charisma News editor Jennifer LeClaire...

In the aftermath of Obergefell v. Hodges, pastors and church members are experiencing a wave of anxiety over what many of them deem the “nightmare scenario”: lawsuits or government action designed to force them to perform or recognize same-sex marriages. While there are — so far — no meaningful judicial precedents that would permit such dramatic interference with churches’ core First Amendment rights, lawsuits challenging church liberties are inevitable. Indeed, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has declared that prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity “sometimes” apply to churches and has stated that a “church...

Welcome to the latest media litmus test for Republican candidates, which like the 2012 litmus test — contraception — has absolutely nothing to do with the job for which they’re vying. Thanks to our crack legions of national reporters, we now know how Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and now John Kasich will RSVP when the gilt-edged invitation shows up in the mail. Meanwhile, we still don’t know whether Hillary Clinton would sign the deal with Iran or why she refused to bolster security around the Benghazi consulate.To borrow a phrase from, like, two years ago,...

The first same-sex wedding in the history of the Tournament of Roses Parade went off without a hitch -- except for the planned one -- despite threats of protests and days of opposition on social media. "Congratulations and our best wishes to Aubrey and Danny on their wedding day!" said KTLA-TV Channel 5 broadcaster Bob Eubanks, one of the live telecast show's hosts, as the wedding-cake-shaped float passed by the viewing stands. The vows took place near the end of the two-hour telecast of the 125th annual Rose Parade. There were no major incidents reported.

Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, were the official witnesses of a same-sex marriage between two women in Maine over the weekend, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The former first couple witnessed the private ceremony on Saturday in Kennebunk between Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen, according to Jim McGrath, a Bush spokesman. Clement posted a photograph on her Facebook page of President Bush signing a piece of paper as the couple, close friends of the Bushes, watched and held champagne glasses. The couple owns H.B. Provisions, a general store in Kennebunk, Maine. The former president owns a...

On Saturday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will become the first Supreme Court justice to officiate a gay wedding ceremony. She will wed Michael M. Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and John Roberts (an economist, not her colleague Chief Justice John Roberts, no relation). "I think it will be one more statement that people who love each other and want to live together should be able to enjoy the blessings and the strife in the marriage relationship," Ginsburg said, according to The Washington Post. The wedding will take place at the...

Eugene Volokh has been doing extensive blogging on the Volokh Conspiracy Blog about Elane Photography v. Willock That is where I heard about this case of a Photographer being forced by the government to take pictures of an private event that violates the photographer's beliefs. This case is about a photographer in New Mexico who did not want to take pictures of a gay marriage wedding because it violated their beliefs. This gay couple could have went anywhere else but they decide to go to court to force this photographer to take their money and take pictures for them at...