Christian Artists Fight Back After Court Rules They Must Serve Gay Weddings

Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski specialize in hand-painting, hand-lettering and calligraphy for weddings and other special events in the Phoenix area.  

As Christians, they don't want to create their art for same-sex weddings, but an Arizona judge says they must or they will violate a Phoenix ordinance and face possible jail time and fines.

The ordinance also includes a provision that forbids businesses from communicating any message that a customer would be "unwelcome" based on their sexual orientation. That means that Duka and Koski could risk penalties if they communicate their position on marriage and how that affects their art.

Duka and Koski say they'll appeal the ruling.  

The Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the artists. Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs says "no creative professional should be threatened with jail time for expressing a point of view that the government doesn't favor."  

ADF attorneys have argued that the Phoenix ordinance violates the Arizona Constitution and Arizona's Free Exercise of Religion Act. Their case is part of a "pre-enforcement challenge" which they initiated in advance of any request to create objectionable art.

Duka and Koski told the court that the ordinance imposes a substantial burden on them because creating art for same-sex weddings violates their religious beliefs and punishes them with criminal penalties.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Karen Mullins disagreed however, ruling "plaintiffs have failed to assert even an incidental burden on the exercise of their religion and certainly cannot establish a substantial burden."

State law forbids the government from substantially burdening a person's free exercise of religion unless there's a compelling governmental interest and the burden is the "least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest."

ADF has represented a variety of wedding vendors who hold a biblical view of marriage.  

It represents Jack Phillips, a Colorado baker whose case will be heard by the Supreme Court later this year.