US: Supreme Court declines to take up appeal from anti-gay marriage photographers
The US Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up the case of a New Mexico photographer which refused its services to a same-sex wedding.
The court’s ruling said: “When you open a business, you are opening your doors to all people in your community, not just the select few who share your personal beliefs.”
The Alliance Defending Freedom in November defended the case of Elane Photography, a company run by a husband and wife who disapprove of same-sex unions, asking the Supreme Court to “make it clear that no American has to abandon their constitutionally protected freedoms just to make a living.”
Lawyers on behalf of the photographer argued that the company should be able to use the First Amendment of the US Constitution, as a defence.
They argued that taking photographs should be protected by the free speech law, as a way of expression.
Now that the US Supreme Court has declined to take up the case, the original ruling that the company must offer its services to all, remains intact.
