The case comes five years after a similar refusal, by a Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, was settled in HD. The ruling in the case, known as Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado, was weakly in favor of the baker but did not provide a clear answer and is therefore open to interpretation.
The latest case involves Lorie Smith, owner of the web design company 303 Creative, also in Colorado. According to Smith, as a devout Christian, she cannot design wedding websites for gay couples, as that would be against her faith.
Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws prohibit businesses from denying service based on a customer’s sexual orientation. Allowing this would risk discrimination against other groups as well, for example on the basis of skin colour, the state believes.
Smith has lost in a Colorado appellate court and therefore appealed to HD. The court has a conservative majority among the justices, with the numbers 6–3.
At the same time, Congress is finalizing a law protecting same-sex marriage in the United States. The teamwork has been brought up to date since HD last summer restricted the federal right to abortion.