Amicus Brief: 303 Creative v. Elenis

In 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, the Supreme Court considered whether a Colorado website design business could claim a First Amendment right to refuse service to same-sex couples. LRRP joined Muslim Advocates, Americans United, and 28 other religious and civil rights organizations as amici curiae in support of Colorado's anti-discrimination law.

Our brief argued that a broad speech-based exemption from anti-discrimination law would fall hardest on religious minorities. We documented the rise in anti-Muslim and antisemitic discrimination, offered real-world examples of minority faith communities denied equal access to businesses, and demonstrated that anti-discrimination protections are not obstacles to religious liberty—rather, they are among its most important guarantees. LRRP made the same argument alongside Muslim Advocates five years earlier in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

The Court ruled for the petitioner in 2023, holding that the First Amendment permitted the designer to decline to create wedding websites for same-sex couples. The decision's reasoning—grounded in the expressive character of the designer's work—leaves open how broadly courts will apply that logic. Businesses providing services with any expressive dimension may now claim similar protections, potentially limiting the reach of anti-discrimination law across a wide range of commercial contexts. Religious minorities, who depend most heavily on these protections, stand to bear a disproportionate share of that burden.

For more on the intersection of free speech, religious liberty, and anti-discrimination law, see our Q&A on Free Speech, Religious Liberty, and Discrimination and our op-ed on how conservative legal doctrine is increasingly used to eliminate rights for others.