Denver, Colo. (May 1, 2020) – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law led a broad coalition of civil rights organizations in filing an amicus brief in the 10th Circuit opposing business attempts to discriminate against same-sex couples, and weaken critical state civil rights laws earlier this week.
The coalition included the Southern Poverty Law Center, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Center for Constitutional Rights, and National Action Network, D.C. Bureau. The coalition is fighting to preserve the integrity of state public accommodations laws against broad freedom of speech or religious exercise exemptions.
The case, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, Case No. 19-1413, challenges the same statute at issue in the 2018 Supreme Court case Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, and the challengers reiterate many of the same arguments. The case arises from a web design company pre-emptively challenging the Colorado public accommodations law on the grounds that its owner objects to creating wedding websites for same-sex couples. It is part of a concerted legal strategy of conservative organizations championing sweeping exceptions to civil rights statutes to allow discrimination against same-sex couples on “free speech” and religious grounds.
“A glance at our nation’s history reveals the importance of ensuring the vitality of our civil rights laws, said Dariely Rodriguez, director of the Economic Justice Project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “These laws have played a crucial role in ensuring that businesses are open to everyone on a non-discriminatory basis and in preventing marginalized communities from being treated as second-class citizens.”
“Robust civil rights protections are especially important during the current economic and public health crisis. As we face shortages in food, household goods, and hospital capacity, public accommodations statutes like the one at issue in 303 Creative guarantees that individuals from marginalized communities have the same opportunities to access these essential products and services as everyone else. With so many businesses shut down or overwhelmed, a person being turned away from an open one or one with capacity merely because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion, or other identities, not only causes dignitary harm but creates a very real risk that they may not be able to access those goods or that type of service at all in the near future.”
In the brief, the organizations highlight the importance of public accommodations protecting minority groups from discrimination. They note that undermining these laws through exemptions will have far-reaching effects and will open the door to even greater discrimination against people of color and religious minorities.
In the brief, the organizations state:
“Opening the door to broad ‘First Amendment’ exemptions to civil rights statutes will harm not only LGBTQ+ persons of all races but heterosexual and cisgender people of color as well; if LGBTQ+ persons can be excluded by citation to free speech or faith, so can any other group. Not only canpeople of color be excluded—they will be. Despite notions that we have conquered racial prejudice, it persists. Just as in 1968, in 2020 the integrity of public-accommodation statutes remains key for people of color to participate fully and freely in the market.”
The Lawyers’ Committee co-counseled with the firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP on the brief.
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