Christian Photographer Scores Main Victory in LGBTQ Battle

A Christian photographer not too long ago scored a serious victory for non secular liberty when the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky dominated Louisville officers had violated her First Amendment rights.

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Chelsey Nelson, the photographer in query, challenged a regulation she mentioned would mandate that she violate her conscience on conventional marriage. While she didn’t face any direct punishment or menace, she took preemptive motion in opposition to the ordinance in an try to stop future points.

“Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Chelsey Nelson and her photography studio filed the lawsuit Chelsey Nelson Photography v. Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government in 2019 because Louisville’s law prohibited Nelson from expressing her views on marriage on her studio’s website and threatened to compel her to create photographs and blogs celebrating a message about marriage she does not believe,” a press launch explained.

Nelson informed CBN News she was a younger mother attempting to determine enterprise and lift her household when she discovered herself feeling compelled to talk up.

“I’m a Christian, so that impacts every aspect of my life, not just on Sunday morning, when I’m at church — absolutely everything,” she mentioned. “And I was very aware at the time of even people like Jack Phillips in the news under fire for just trying to quietly operate their business in a way that was consistent with their Christian convictions.”

Nelson mentioned she needed to function her enterprise in alignment with the Lord whereas additionally rising in a manner that comported with guidelines and rules.

“I became aware of this ordinance in Louisville and was really concerned that I might be under … $10,000 fines at any moment for being reported if I were just simply open about what messages I’m willing to celebrate … marriage between a man and a woman for a lifetime only and nothing outside of that,” she mentioned.

Bryan Neihart, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative authorized agency, mentioned the six-year-long litigation journey Nelson has been on, expressing his dismay over the ordinance in query.

“The fundamental premise of Chelsea’s lawsuit is that the government can’t force Americans to say something they don’t believe,” he informed CBN News. “And Louisville passed a law that it interpreted to require Chelsea to create photographs and blogs celebrating a view of marriage that contradicted her faith.”

Neihart continued, “And the law had two different features. One, it compelled her to create speech that violated her beliefs. … It also prohibited her from even putting on her own website, ‘This is my Christian beliefs, this is what I believe about marriage, and I only create photographs and blogs consistent with that belief.’”

The lawyer mentioned Nelson’s case was just like 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, a Supreme Court battle that concluded in 2023. Lorie Smith, a graphic and internet designer who runs 303 Creative, received within the 6-3 resolution after claiming Colorado was censoring her Christian beliefs.

Despite that victory, comparable legal guidelines live on in places throughout the U.S.

“There are laws like Louisville’s across the country that compelled artists to create artwork that violated their religious beliefs,” Neihart mentioned. “And, in 2023, the Supreme Court said that those laws, when they’re applied to speech, violate the First Amendment.”

Nelson encountered a courtroom that adopted that very same blueprint on this case. Despite the victory, she mentioned the battle hasn’t been straightforward.

“To be honest, it was really difficult at first,” she mentioned. “People I thought were friends, thought were fellow believers, essentially disowned me for trying to seek clarity in this, and standing for what I believe the Bible is not quiet about, but very loud and clear about. So that part was difficult.”

Nelson wasn’t shocked by non-Christians responding negatively, as they maintain one other perception system and worldview. Still, she needs they’d look in another way on the subject.

“I wish more of them would understand … that I’m actually fighting for their right to create consistent with their beliefs, even though it’s a separate worldview and belief system from my own,” she mentioned. “But, in the end, the Lord helped me grow a very thick skin and He really used my children as a motivation.”

Nelson mentioned her “witness” to her children is essential and that she is aware of they are going to sooner or later develop up and look again at how their mom boldly took a stand, fearing God greater than man.

“That was an incredible inspiration to me,” she mentioned. “I’ll be grateful, hopefully, when one day they actually know what’s been going on these past six years, which they know nothing about at the moment — that their mom was faithful.”

Neihart mentioned the choice in favor of Nelson is “significant…for a couple of reasons.”

“The district court here in Kentucky did a great job of explaining why photography is speech,” he mentioned, noting his shopper can also be entitled to nominal damages over the very fact Nelson’s speech was “chilled.”

“Nominal damages are a way to hold governments accountable when they violate constitutional rights,” Neihart mentioned. “And then the final point is that the district court permanently enjoins, meaning permanently prevents, Louisville from enforcing its law against Chelsea to compel her to create a message that violates her belief.”