Blaine Adamson of Hands On Originals A print shop in Lexington, Ky., shouldn’t be forced to produce LGBTQ Pride T-shirts because the message goes against the owner’s religious beliefs, his lawyer told the Kentucky Supreme Court Friday. “The evidence is clear that Hands On Originals serves everyone — and just doesn’t print certain messages,” Joe Campbell, a lawyer with the anti-LGBTQ Alliance Defending Freedom, told the court, according to Newsweek. “The First Amendment in this case cuts in Hands On Originals’ favor — [it] ensures that the government can’t use a law to force someone to print or convey a message that they find objectionable.” Blaine Adamson, the co-owner and manager of Hands On Originals, refused to print a T-shirt for Lexington Pride’s fifth anniversary in 2012, citing his conservative Christian beliefs about sexuality and marriage. The city’s Gay and Lesbian Services Organization, which runs Pride, filed a complaint with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission, which found that the shop had violated a local ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations, as the business is a place of public accommodation. That decision was overturned on appeal by the […]
