WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed sympathetic Monday to an evangelical Christian graphic artist from Colorado who does not want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples, despite the state’s protective anti-discrimination law. Hypotheticals about mall Santas who are Black, interracial marriage and "reeducation programs" for those who violate public-accommodation laws filled a sometimes testy hearing that lasted more than two hours. It was the court’s latest examination of the clash between laws requiring equal treatment for the LGBTQ community and those who say their religious beliefs lead them to regard same-sex marriages as "false." The case, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, comes amid rising public and political approval of gay marriage, and as Congress is on the cusp of passing legislation that would protect such unions in the event the Supreme Court backs away from the constitutional right it established in 2015. At the same time, the Supreme Court has grown even more protective of religious and free speech rights. The court’s six conservative justices seemed amenable to business owner Lorie Smith’s argument that the state may not compel her to create speech that violates her religious belief that marriage is only between a man and […]
