STATEMENT: SCOTUS Welcomes With Open Arms Bigotry Against LGBTQ+ Customers in 303 Creative v. Elenis

June 30. 2023

For Immediate Release
Jun 30, 2023

Media Contact
Nazirah Ahmad
[email protected]

Statement from Noreen Farrell, Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates (ERA), on today’s Supreme Court’s decision allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people

San Francisco, June 30, 2023 – We are beyond disappointed in today’s Supreme Court opinion in 303 Creative V. Elenis in favor of a bigoted web designer in Colorado who refuses to create websites celebrating same-sex weddings due to religious objections. The Court’s ruling is an open invitation for businesses to discriminate against protected classes of customers – and it won’t stop with LGBTQ+ individuals. Today’s ruling will lead to additional discrimination based on race, religion, political affiliation, and other factors. 

With this decision, the Supreme Court rolls back decades of hard-achieved progress for LGBTQ+ people. The same court that said schools could not employ affirmative action to level the playing field for students of color, especially Black and Latinx students, says now that businesses can deny services and accommodations to protected classes based on a business owner’s or employee’s discriminatory religious beliefs.

It is not hard to imagine the return of signs in store windows that read, “NO BLACKS,” or “NO JEWS.” While it may seem unfathomable, today’s ruling invites that kind of blatant discrimination, under the guise of “religious freedom.” It is a sad day for justice. 

But we’re not giving up. We will continue to fight in legislatures, courts, and other halls of power to extend equal protection under the law to everyone–regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, political affiliation, religious views, and all protected classes. 

Noreen Farrell and other experts at Equal Rights Advocates are available for interviews upon request. Contact Blake Case at [email protected] or 601-832-6079. 

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About Equal Rights Advocates

Equal Rights Advocates fights for gender justice in workplaces and schools across the country. Since 1974, they have been fighting on the front lines of social justice to protect and advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and people of all gender identities through groundbreaking legal cases and bold legislation that sets the stage for the rest of the nation.