Lorie Smith, the Christian web designer who sparked a landmark Supreme Court decision. PHOTO: RACHEL WOOLF FOR THE WASHINGTON POST VIA GETTY IMAGES
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On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to allow a Christian web designer to refuse her services to LGBTQ+ people, a historic decision that walks back hard-fought human rights battles and paves the way for businesses to legally discriminate based on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.
The case that spawned the decision, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, was brought by Lorie Smith, a website designer who owns 303 Creative and wanted to challenge a Colorado law prohibiting businesses from discriminating against LGBTQ+ customers.
Smith's lawsuit was built largely around a hypothetical scenario, in that she had not actually designed any wedding websites or tried to turn away same-sex couples when she sued.
Smith has been represented by attorneys for the Christian rights group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which lobbies to expand Christian practices within public schools and in government, and to outlaw abortion.
As The Guardian reports, the group has spent millions of dollars in an attempt to curtail LGBTQ+ rights, and has been involved in many cases across the U.S. that deal directly with transgender rights. The group was also tangentially involved in a series of "He Gets Us" ads that aired during the Super Bowl and depicted a modern view of Jesus in an apparent attempt to market his teachings to Millennials and Gen Zers.
ADF's attempts to strip rights from the LGBTQ+ community come amid a wave of 2023 bills specifically targeting queer and transgender people.
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