Web designer insists Colo. law requiring same-sex service violates her First Amendment rights

The Colorado web designer whose First Amendment case is on the way to the Supreme Court has been dealing with accusations of pursuing an “anti-LGBTQ crusade.”

Lorie Smith, the owner and operator of 303 Creative, recently spoke with Fox News Digital regarding the challenges of her case. They also discussed Smith’s aims to expand her graphics and web design into the wedding business and what that means to her as a Christian.

“I wanted to invest my time and my talent and my passion in promoting messages that I really care about and to also help people,” Smith explained. “And I get the opportunity to do this every day through my custom graphics and websites.”

“It’s important to me that every message I promote, everything I create,” Smith emphasized, “is glorifying and honoring to our Creator.”

Smith had filed a petition with the Supreme Court in September after a lower court ruled against her by upholding Colorado’s anti-discrimination law, suggesting her selective content creation was akin to allowing discrimination and that it posed “grave harm” to society.

Her suit, which was originally filed in October 2019, was similar to baker Jack Phillips’ of Masterpiece Cakeshop in that they did not refuse LGBTQ clients, but rather refused to create LGBTQ affirming content. For that reason, Smith sought representation from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

The Supreme Court announced in February that they would hear her case. ADF attorney Kristen Waggoner shared the news on social media and added her views on the case.

Senior Counsel Jennifer Pizer spoke on behalf of her firm, Lambda Legal, who filed an amicus brief to the case in opposition to Smith. “[W]e are witness yet again to the unrelenting anti-LGBTQ crusade being waged by self-described Christian fundamentalist legal groups aiming to chip away at the hard-won gains of LGBTQ people by carving out swaths of territory where discrimination can flourish.”

Pizer went on to argue, “The constitutional protections for religious freedom and free speech were never intended as weapons of discrimination for those doing business with the general public.”

However, both sides of the case have acknowledged that Smith’s work is a matter of message and content and that she has never discriminated against a client based on their sexual orientation. Her issue is with producing content that violates her beliefs.

“I think it’s important for people to understand that I love and welcome the opportunity to work with all people,” Smith said. “My case has never been about choosing which client to work with, but about choosing the message that I’m being asked to promote.”

Smith further explained that the state of Colorado and the Tenth Circuit Court were in agreement with her on that part, “So that’s certainly something that’s been clarified and agreed to.”

That hasn’t stopped the public from accusing her of bigotry.

The negative rhetoric has not deterred Smith who believes “the mark of a healthy and free society” is the ability to disagree “civilly”

“And while I think that everyone should treat each other with politeness and consideration and speak in ways that reflect that,” Smith added, “I will always affirm one’s right to speak freely. And that’s what I’m asking for. I’m asking for that same freedom. And the right to speak freely is worthy of protecting.”

Waggoner related the case to the current crisis in eastern Europe, saying, “I think we can look around the world right now and see what regimes look like that are willing to silence dissent and censor speech and hopefully agree as Americans that that’s not the path we want to follow.”

“That free speech allows us to explore and test ideas, to pursue truth,” Waggoner added. “We have to have it to have a diverse society. All of us, regardless of our views on marriage, this issue transcends marriage, it’s about whether we have the right to speak freely. And for that reason, we should all support Lorie in this case.”