The Supreme Court's decision allowing a website designer to refuse service to same-sex couples represents the judicial body's "callous disregard for the wellbeing of the very communities that need protecting," Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said Friday.
Healey is the state's first openly gay governor and one of the first two openly lesbian governors in the United States. She was traveling back to Massachusetts from Ireland, where she helped mark the 30th anniversary of the country's law decriminalizing homosexuality.
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The court's 6-3 ruling in the case, in which the court broke on ideological lines, is a defeat for gay rights and a victory for religious rights in the country. It lets creative businesses refuse to provide services to customers if they disagree with the customer's message.
Writing for the court, Justice Neil Gorsuch said the First Amendment overruled a Colorado state law barring discrimination against gay people by businesses open to the public by forcing "an individual to speak in ways that align with its views but defy her conscience about a matter of major significance."
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In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the ruling a "license to discriminate" that effectively makes gay people second-class citizens: "The opinion of the Court is, quite literally, a notice that reads: 'Some services may be denied to same-sex couples.'"
Friday's ruling comes five years after the Supreme Court sided with a Colorado baker who didn't want to make a cake for a same-sex couple.
Healey's statement asserted that Massachusetts will continue to protect the equality of the LGBTQ+ community. Her full statement reads: "This decision is deeply disappointing and yet another example of the Supreme Court’s callous disregard for the wellbeing of the very communities that need protecting. The courts have long recognized that laws safeguarding customers from discrimination don’t infringe on the right to free speech. Freedom isn’t using the First Amendment as license to shut your doors on LGBTQ+ customers. Freedom is the ability to live and love openly without fear. Massachusetts will always stand for freedom and equality because it wasn’t about a cake then, and it’s not about a website now."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
