Screen capture from the video “Getting to know the artists of Brush & Nib” The Arizona State Supreme Court has ruled Phoenix-based company Brush & Nib, which designs custom wedding invitations, may turn away same-sex couples looking to engage their services. According to the Phoenix New Times , the owners of the design studio, Breanna Koski and Joanna Duka, filed their lawsuit against the city of Phoenix in 2016 saying the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance violated their artistic and religious freedoms. The ordinance, which prohibits businesses from refusing to offer services to protected classes, was expanded in 2013 to include sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. After the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its historic Obergefell ruling on same-sex marriage in June 2015, Koski and Duka said they didn’t want to design wedding invitations – or any custom art for that matter – for a same-sex ceremony because they believed it would be seen as an ‘endorsement’ of marriage equality. It’s important to note that no one had asked the company to design any wedding invitations for a same-sex wedding. The duo seems to have preemptively pursued legal action before there was a reason to do so. Today’s ruling […]
