We are still rejoicing and thanking God for the many wins announced last week by the U.S. Supreme Court! When we look back over the last year, horrible Court rulings from the 1970s have been overturned, and the torch of free speech and freedom of religion is burning bright. The impact of these victories will last for generations!

YOUR support of Liberty Counsel’s litigation team is protecting and preserving religious freedom rights for all Americans. —Mat

We rejoice and thank God for several HUGE wins at the U.S. Supreme Court, the Indiana Supreme Court, and a federal Court of Appeals.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lorie Smith, owner of 303 Creative, siding with freedom of speech over a government-forced LGBTQ message. In doing so, the Court cited our 9-0 win in Shurtleff v. City of Boston involving the Christian flag.

Lorie Smith uses her God-given talent to design websites for weddings. While she serves everyone, Lorie cannot use her skills and creativity to express messages that violate her deeply held religious beliefs.

But the State of Colorado took the shockingly tyrannical stance that creative artists like Lorie must violate their religious beliefs by creating websites celebrating same-sex marriages — which Lorie cannot do.

The First Amendment protects the right to speak and the right not to speak. This victory will have enduring consequences for good.

Colorado’s anti-discrimination law decreed that Lorie and creators like her could be punished for only offering to create websites celebrating weddings consistent with a couple’s commitment to God’s design — that marriage is between one man and one woman.

Justice Gorsuch, writing for the majority, said, “The First Amendment protects an individual’s right to speak his mind regardless of whether the government considers his speech sensible and well intentioned or deeply ‘misguided,’ and likely to cause ‘anguish’ or ‘incalculable grief.’ Equally, the First Amendment protects acts of expressive association.”

“Generally, too, the government may not compel a person to speak its own preferred messages. Nor does it matter whether the government seeks to compel a person to speak its message when he would prefer to remain silent or to force an individual to include other ideas with his own speech that he would prefer not to include. All that offends the First Amendment just the same,” continued Gorsuch (emphasis added).

The Court agreed with Liberty Counsel’s argument in our amicus brief that allowing the government to force a person to speak would destroy the creative arts expressed in design, literature, music, performances, and writing..

Justice Gorsuch further said that the state “could not use its public accommodations statute to deny speakers the right ‘to choose the content of [their] own message[s].’ Were the rule otherwise, the better the artist, the finer the writer, the more unique his talent, the more easily his voice could be conscripted to disseminate the government’s preferred messages. That would not respect the First Amendment; more nearly, it would spell its demise.”

The Court cited Liberty Counsel’s unanimous 9-0 victory involving the Christian flag in the Shurtleff v. City of Boston case.

Indeed, “the First Amendment extends to all persons engaged in expressive conduct, including those who seek profit (such as speechwriters, artists, and website designers)” (emphasis added).

This is a landmark victory for free speech and expression. The state cannot force people to convey a government-approved message against their religious beliefs or individual choice. Film, theater, art, and other expression would not exist if the government could censor the message.

This case also shows the crucial importance of our 9-0 win in Shurtleff v. City of Boston, wherein the High Court unanimously ruled that governments may not discriminate against Christian thought, speech, and symbols.

In addition to this case, the Supreme Court sided with religious freedom in the workplace. And the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of a near ban on abortion. And we also won a huge victory for a Christian university.

Your generous gift today will help us continue winning many other such battles. A recurring monthly donation of any amount would help so much!

Every donation made today will be DOUBLED IN IMPACT by a generous Challenge Grant supporting our legal fund!

Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel