Arizona Attorney General. (Capitol Media Services/Courtesy, file) PHOENIX — Arizona’s top prosecutor is urging a federal appeals court to allow a Colorado woman and the company she owns to refuse to design a website for a same-sex wedding. In a new legal brief filed with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said the rights of Lorie Smith trump a Colorado law which makes it illegal for businesses open to the public to refuse to offer services because of a customer’s sexual orientation. That same law also bars companies from posting notices that they won’t serve gays. A federal judge had sided with the state in the dispute. Now Brnovich, leading a group of 13 other Republican attorneys general, is telling the appellate court they should reverse that ruling. The filing comes the same week that some Arizona lawmakers are seeking to expand state laws to prohibit discrimination in public accommodations — including businesses like the one run by Smith — based on sexual orientation and gender identification. The bills sponsored by Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix, and Rep. Daniel Hernandez, D-Tucson, also would effectively nullify last year’s decision of the Arizona Supreme Court allowing a […]
