The Los Angeles Times said that the gay rights activists scored another legal victory when the US Supreme Court rejected a New Mexico photographer's appeal to hear her case. Elaine Huguenin of Elane Photography was lodged with a complaint for her denial of service to take photos of a same-sex couple's wedding. According to Huguenin, accommodating the same-sex couple's request will have her violating her religious beliefs.
The Supreme Court's ruling, which was issued in a one-line order, denied Elane Photography's request to hear its case as it was not able to gather enough votes to be able to grant the company's request for a hearing, the LA Times said. Nonetheless, it attracted a lot of attention considering that the case posed a challenge on religious freedom under state laws on anti-discrimination. Elane Photography, and ergo, Huguenin, was charged with violating New Mexico's law on anti-discrimination, which requires business establishments to serve customers without any regard to their sexual orientation, race or religion. The newspaper said that the Elane Photography case has helped spur the legislative campaigns to strengthen the religious-freedom rights of business owners in Arizona and Mississippi.
On the other hand, the LA Times said that the appeal in the photographer's case focused on the First Amendment and the freedom of speech only. According to the Lawyers for the Alliance Defending Freedom, the New Mexico anti-discrimination law will force Elane Photography to create expression in violation of her religious beliefs. Critis have said that the anti-discrimination law itself was a form of compelled speech.
Huguenin's appeal argued, "(A state anti-bias law, when applied broadly, would) require individuals who create expression for a living -- like marketers, advertisers, publicists and website designers -- to speak in conflict with their consciences."
The New Mexico Court, who have ruled against Elan Photography, said, "(The state court refused) to draw the line between ‘creative' or ‘expressive' professionals and all others. (A) flower shop is not intuitively ‘expressive', but florists use artistic skills and training to design and construct floral displays. Courts cannot be in the business of deciding which businesses are sufficiently artistic to warrant exemptions from anti-discrimination laws."
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