The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in favor of a design business owner who said her Christian faith prevents her from creating websites celebrating same-sex marriages has “pushed civil rights to the wayside” and “ignores long-standing precedent and public norms,” Illinois leaders and advocates said Friday.
In a statement, Gov. J.B. Pritzker criticized the court’s decision, saying “it allows LGBTQ+ discrimination to pervade under the guise of free speech.”
“This decision weaponizes religious freedom as a boon for bigotry, and in doing so, puts the burden on the millions of Americans who have fought for their right to love and live as they are.”
The ruling from the conservative-majority Supreme Court on Friday comes at the end of Pride Month.
“Throughout its 234-year legacy, the court has repeatedly had the opportunity to lead on the right side of history,” Pritzker said. “Sometimes it has embraced that mantle of courage; but in its darkest hours, it has pushed civil rights to the wayside in the name of a retrograde agenda. Not yet ten years out from Obergefell [the landmark 2015 case that guaranteed the right to same-sex marriages], this court has turned its back on its mandate to protect the civil rights of all Americans.”
Equality Illinois called the decision “a radical and reckless ruling” that “ignores long-standing precedent and public norms to say that some businesses can turn some people away because of who they are.”
Equality Illinois said it plans to work with legal partners, public officials and LGBTQ+ advocates to determine how to defend the nondiscrimination protections in the Illinois Human Rights Act.
“We will work to ensure the ruling is not used to allow further discrimination because of a customer’s sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion, national origin, sex, or other protected class,” the organization said.
The American Civil Liberties Union echoed the disappointment in the Supreme Court’s latest decision and said religion should never be used as a license to discriminate.
“We have a history in this country that says when a business opens up and hangs an open sign on its door, that the business has to serve everyone and it can’t be limited based on who someone loves and who they are,” said Ed Yohnka, Director of Communications and Public Policy for the ACLU of Illinois. “This case was never really about a website because, in fact, they’ve never been asked to make a website. This decision is really about giving the imprimatur of our nation’s highest court to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples.”
