LOUISVILLE, KY – This week, the city of Louisville agreed to pay $800,000 in attorney’s fees to Christian photographer and blogger Chelsey Nelson for threatening her with legal sanction if she did not serve same-sex weddings. The city unsuccessfully tried to use its “Fairness Ordinance,” enacted in the 1990s and bars denying goods and services to protected classes, to force Nelson to create photographs and blogs celebrating “same-sex marriage.” The city also prohibited her from expressing her marriage views—the biblical union between one man and one woman—on her own studio’s website.  

Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, Nelson challenged the city ordinance with concern that the nondiscrimination law would force her to choose between her livelihood and her sincerely held religious beliefs. The settlement agreement follows a 2025 federal district court decision that held Louisville accountable for violating Nelson’s First Amendment right to express views consistent with her religious beliefs. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky ruled Louisville’s law, as applied to Nelson, violated the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment, as well as the Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Nelson initially won her lawsuit in 2022, but at that time the district court did not award her damages or attorney’s fees. She appealed to the U.S. Sixth Circuit to recoup damages and expenses. During the appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its 2023 decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis that determined government officials cannot force artists to create or express messages with which they disagree. This ruling prompted the appeals court to send the case back to the district court which upheld the permanent injunction of the law toward Nelson and awarded nominal damages. The city agreed to the attorney’s fees on top of the damages, which ends the litigation.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “This is another victory for Americans who cherish their liberty and right to individual speech and expression. Cities, states, and even the federal government cannot force people to convey a government-approved message against their religious beliefs or individual choice. Creative expression would not exist if the government could censor the message. As the city of Louisville now knows, violating the First Amendment right to free expression can be a costly mistake.”

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