"That's why we have a public accommodations ordinance: to stop businesses from allowing certain populations to be discriminated against and not enjoy the goods and services that are being offered by that business," said commission chair Ray Sexton. Legal experts predict the ruling could impact anti-discrimination ordinances nationwide. "If you buy the argument of Hands On Originals, they can do anything they want in the name of religion," said Ed Dove an attorney for the Human Rights Commission. "As long as it is tied to the production of printed material." "That would still be okay under this analysis, wouldn't it? I mean that kind of overt discrimination between faiths?" she asked. Justice Michelle Keller asked if Adamson's argument couldn't be used to defend workplace and housing discrimination against Catholics in the late 19th century.
Lower courts previously found in Adamson's favor twice, before the case landed before the state supreme court. "The First Amendment in this case cuts in Hands On Originals' favor- ensures that the government can't use a law to force someone to print or convey a message that they find objectionable." "The evidence is clear that Hands On Originals serves everyone-and just doesn't print certain messages," ADF counsel Joe Campbell told the justices on Friday. "However, due to the promotional nature of our products, it is the prerogative of Hands On Originals to refuse any order that would endorse positions that conflict with the convictions of the ownership," it continuesĪdamson is being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative legal group that previously represented Hobby Lobby in a suit claiming mandatory coverage of birth control in employee-funded health plans was unconstitutional. The shirts requested by the LGBT organization were to have "Lexington Pride Festival" printed on them with the number 5, signifying the event's fifth anniversary.Ī statement on the Hands On website indicates the company "both employs and conducts business with people of all genders, races, religions, sexual orientations, and national origins." I don't walk into my business every morning and leave my faith at the door."Ī statement on the Hands On website indicates the company "both employs and conducts business with people of all genders, races, religions, sexual orientations, and national origins." Getty ImagesĪdamson claims to have made t-shirts for a lesbian performer at the Pride celebration. "But when I'm presented with a message that conflicts with my faith, that's just something I cannot print, that's the line for me.
"I will work with any person, no matter who they are, and no matter what their belief systems are," he said in a press conference Friday. The group filed discrimination charges with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission, which claimed Blaine had violated the city's fairness ordinance-which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations.Īdamson maintains he was only expressing his religious beliefs. The Kentucky Supreme Court will hear a case involving a Christian t-shirt maker who refused to make shirts for a state LGBT organization, claiming it violated his religious principles.īack in 2012, Blaine Adamson, owner of Hands On Originals, refused to make Pride t-shirts for Lexington's Gay and Lesbian Services Organization.