(Washington) The Supreme Court of the United States announced on Tuesday that it would examine the complaint filed by a designer of websites claiming her Christian faith and who, as such, refuses to provide her services to homosexual couples when they marry.
Posted at 5:26 p.m.
The case once again puts at the heart of the debates on the one hand religious freedom and freedom of expression, guaranteed by the first amendment of the American Constitution, on the other hand the laws protecting citizens against discrimination, in particular based about their gender or sexual orientation.
The Supreme Court must examine this file during its October session.
The country’s top court has repeatedly considered similar cases since it recognized same-sex marriage in 2015, but has so far cautiously refrained from generalizing its findings on a topic that divides American society.
The file that awaits him concerns a complaint filed by Lorie Smith, artist and owner of a website in the State of Colorado.
Mme Smith defines herself as a devout Christian and says she therefore cannot design wedding invitations or sites for same-sex weddings because it would be “inconsistent” with her religious beliefs.
But anti-discrimination laws in force in Colorado prohibit companies from refusing to serve anyone on the grounds of their sexual orientation.
A court of appeal had thus dismissed Lorie Smith last year and the latter, as a last resort, seized the Supreme Court.
In declaring itself competent to judge this case, the Supreme Court indicates that it will examine this case through the prism of the First Amendment and determine whether Colorado laws “violate the right to free speech” of an artist.
In June 2018, the high court partially ruled in favor of a Colorado pastry chef who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple.
The judges had at the time estimated by seven votes against two that the religious rights of the pastry chef had indeed been flouted, but it had not defined a more global framework that could make it possible to decide on other similar cases.
Since then, the Supreme Court has undergone a radical transformation in its composition with the appointment by ex-President Donald Trump of two very conservative magistrates, tilting the majority in favor of the conservatives (six against three progressives).