XPost: alt.politics.liberalism, alt.politics.homosexuality, misc.survivalism   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: cpeterson@4ax.com   
      
   PHOENIX –  An Arizona appeals court on Thursday upheld a Phoenix   
   anti-discrimination law that makes it illegal for businesses to   
   refuse service to same-sex couples because of religion.   
      
   The ruling comes days after the U.S. Supreme Court sided with a   
   Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex   
   couple. The high court found Monday that a Colorado civil rights   
   commission showed anti-religious bias when it ruled against Jack   
   Phillips for refusing to make the cake at his Masterpiece   
   Cakeshop.   
      
   The decision, however, did not address the larger issue of   
   whether a business can invoke religious objections to refuse   
   service to gay and lesbian people.   
      
   In the Arizona case, the state Court of Appeals sided with the   
   city in a lawsuit first brought in 2016 by a wedding invitation   
   business, saying the ordinance is constitutional and does not   
   violate freedom of religion or speech.   
      
   "We have previously found that eliminating discrimination   
   constitutes a compelling interest," Judge Lawrence Winthrop   
   wrote, adding that "antidiscrimination ordinances are not aimed   
   at the suppression of speech, but at the elimination of   
   discriminatory conduct."   
      
   The court said if Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush   
   & Nib Studio, "want to operate their for-profit business as a   
   public accommodation, they cannot discriminate against potential   
   patrons based on sexual orientation."   
      
   Attorney Jonathan Scruggs of Alliance Defending Freedom, who   
   represented the women, said they intend to appeal the decision   
   to the Arizona Supreme Court.   
      
   "Artists shouldn't be forced under threat of fines and jail time   
   to create artwork contrary to their core convictions," Scruggs   
   said in a statement. "The court's decision allows the government   
   to compel two artists who happily serve everyone to convey a   
   message about marriage they disagree with."   
      
   The three-judge panel said a stationery store that includes the   
   customized design of wedding event merchandise is not "entitled   
   to First Amendment free speech protections."   
      
   "The case before us is one of a blanket refusal of service to   
   the LGBTQ community," the judges said.   
      
   Phoenix expanded the ordinance in 2013 to include protections   
   against discrimination and bias based on sexual orientation and   
   gender identity.   
      
   Duka and Koski, who are devout Christians, preemptively asked   
   for an injunction barring the ordinance's enforcement. Last   
   October, a trial judge rejected their challenge.   
      
   Phoenix Mayor Thelda Williams applauded the ruling Thursday. "We   
   will continue to be a city that welcomes everyone, and value   
   each of our residents regardless of who they love," she said in   
   a statement.   
      
   The American Civil Liberties Union, which served as co-counsel   
   for Phoenix, also praised the ruling.   
      
   "This decision in Arizona helps affirm that discrimination has   
   no place in businesses open to the public, nor in our   
   Constitution," said ACLU attorney Joshua Block.   
      
   In its analysis, the Arizona court referenced the outcome of the   
   Colorado case.   
      
   "There is no evidence in the record to support any suggestion   
   that Phoenix's adoption of (the ordinance) or its interpretation   
   as it relates to Brush & Nib, has been anything other than   
   neutral toward and respectful of their sincerely-expressed   
   religious beliefs."   
      
   http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/06/07/court-upholds-phoenix-law-   
   over-same-sex-wedding-   
   invitations.html?intcmp=ob_article_sidebar_video&intcmp=obnetwork   
      
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