DENVER (AP) A federal appeals court has rejected an attempt to reinstate a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s anti-discrimination law by a web designer who didn’t want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples.
A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Monday denied Lorie Smith’s attempt to overturn a lower court ruling throwing out her legal challenge.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents Smith, argued that the law forced her to violate her Christian beliefs.
In the 2-1 ruling, the panel said that Colorado had a compelling interest in protecting the “dignity interests” of members of marginalized groups through its law.
The anti-discrimination law is the same one that was at issue in the case of Colorado baker Jack Phillips in a case decided in 2018 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom, which was founded in 1994 by Christian leaders concerned about religious freedom, said it would appeal the ruling. The group’s senior counsel, John Bursch, said in a statement the government shouldn’t force creative professionals to promote a message they disagree with.
Lambda Legal, a group that fights for the civil rights of LGBTQ, called it an important ruling that protects same-sex couples from discrimination.