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First Amendment Victory: Arizona Supreme Court Upholds Christians' Right NOT to Make Same-Sex 'Wedding' Invites

Calvin Freiburger : Sep 18, 2019
LifeSiteNews.com

"The rights of free speech and free exercise, so precious to this nation since its founding ... protect the right of every American to express their beliefs in public. This includes the right to create and sell words, paintings and art that express [a] person's sincere religious beliefs." -Justice Andrew Gould

(Phoenix, AZ) — [LifeSiteNews.com] Two Arizona calligraphers at the heart of yet another religious liberty battle won a major victory Monday with the Arizona Supreme Court's ruling that business owners have the right to choose not to provide certain products to same-sex "weddings." (Image source: ADF Legal /via LifeSiteNews)

Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski own Brush & Nib Studio, a small business founded on Christian values. They say they serve any customer regardless of sexuality but draw the line at being forced to produce custom messages endorsing events that violate their beliefs.

Since 2016, they've fought the city of Phoenix over an LGBT "anti-discrimination" ordinance they argued violated their freedom of speech and religion, because it threatened them with fines and prison time for refusing to create invitations to same-sex "weddings."

The state's highest court sided with them Monday in a 4-3 ruling that the ordinance "runs afoul of the First Amendment, which 'necessarily implies' a violation of Plaintiffs' broader free speech right under article 2, section 6 of the Arizona Constitution."

"The rights of free speech and free exercise, so precious to this nation since its founding, are not limited to soft murmurings behind the doors of a person's home or church, or private conversations with like-minded friends and family," Justice Andrew Gould wrote for the majority. "These guarantees protect the right of every American to express their beliefs in public. This includes the right to create and sell words, paintings and art that express [a] person's sincere religious beliefs"... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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