In 2017 we reported on Blaine Adamson’s victory in court against LGBT activists who had sued him because he refused, for religious reasons, to print t-shirts for a gay pride event. He tried to recommend a different t-shirt printer but they chose to sue.
Well now his case is back in court, on appeal, and it will go before Kentucky’s Supreme Court tomorrow:
CBN NEWS – Another big case of a Christian’s free speech rights versus LGBT rights is back in the courts.
Two years ago, a Kentucky appeals court ruled in favor of Hands On Originals, a printing company which refused to print gay pride t-shirts because it goes against the owner’s religious beliefs. However, because the county human rights commission appealed the case, owner Blaine Adamson has to go back to court again. This time, his continuing battle over his First Amendment rights will be heard in the Kentucky Supreme Court on Friday.
Here’s the essential details of his case:
Back in 2012, Adamson refused to print a t-shirt design for the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization (GLSO), which promoted the group’s pride festival.
As CBN News reported, Adamson explained that he could not print a shirt bearing a message that conflicts with his faith. He then offered to connect the GLSO to another printer who would create the shirts for the same price that he would have charged.
The GLSO rejected Adamson’s offer and filed a discrimination complaint with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission. The commission declared Adamson was guilty of illegal discrimination and ordered him to print shirts with messages that conflicted with his religious beliefs.
In May of 2017, the Kentucky Court of Appeals rescinded the commission’s findings, ruling that Adamson is free to decline orders that would require him to print messages that conflict with his religious beliefs.
Then the human rights commission appealed the decision to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
What’s interesting is that two lesbian printers came out in support of him because they couldn’t see themselves printing anti-gay t-shirts:
Kathy Trautvertter and Diane DiGeloromo of BMP T-shirts once told talk show host Glenn Beck they had to get involved because “when I put myself in his shoes I could see it from his side.”
The LGBT printers realized they could not go against their own social mores and if asked, they “could not create or print anti-gay t-shirts for a group.”
DiGeloromo said they know that siding with the printer may cause some concern in the LGBT community but “we feel it’s not a gay or straight issue, it’s a human issue and no one should be forced to do something against what they believe in.”
It’s a freedom issue and it’s nice to see some in that community realize this. Too bad that the human rights commission is more interested in forcing compliance with the gay agenda. How fascistic of them. I don’t know how liberal the Kentucky Supreme Court tends to be in cases like this, but I wish Adamson luck and hope he doesn’t have to appeal it to the Supreme Court.