President Biden expressed his disappointment Friday with a Supreme Court ruling that found an evangelical web designer could not be required to provide services for same-sex couples if they asked her to, raising concerns that it would invite growing discrimination against the LGBTQ community.
“In America, no person should face discrimination simply because of who they are or who they love,” Biden said in a statement. “The Supreme Court’s disappointing decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis undermines that basic truth, and painfully it comes during Pride month when millions of Americans across the country join together to celebrate the contributions, resilience, and strength of the LGBTQI+ community.”
“While the Court’s decision only addresses expressive original designs, I’m deeply concerned that the decision could invite more discrimination against LGBTQI+ Americans,” Biden added. “More broadly, today’s decision weakens long-standing laws that protect all Americans against discrimination in public accommodations – including people of color, people with disabilities, people of faith, and women.”
Biden said his administration would work with states to guard against discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. He also called for Congress to pass the Equality Act, which would extend federal nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ Americans.
Democrats in both chambers of Congress last week reintroduced the proposal, which faces steep odds of passage in the GOP-controlled House and narrowly divided Senate.
The Supreme Court earlier Friday in a 6-3 ruling along ideological lines found that Colorado’s anti-discrimination law violated Lorie Smith’s free speech rights under the First Amendment by demanding she create same-sex wedding websites if she wants to do so for opposite-sex unions. Smith, who had not been asked by a same-sex couple to design a wedding website, argued the requirement violated her religious beliefs.
The decision narrows states’ ability to apply public accommodation laws to artists, dealing a significant blow to LGBTQ advocates.