In 2006, Vanessa Wilcock sued Elane Photography for refusing to photograph her commitment ceremony with her partner. Consisting of husband and wife team Elaine and Jonathan Huguenin, the company politely declined, stating that it did not photograph same-sex ceremonies.
Wilcock did what any rational person would do and found another photographer willing to work within her parameters. Oh wait, no she didn’t -- she filed a lawsuit against the Christian couple for violating the New Mexico Human Rights Act (NMHRA). For equality!
The court sided with Wilcock, then Elane Photography appealed, and last week, the Court of Appeals of the State of New Mexico upheld the lower court’s decision. Elaine and Jonathan Huguenin were found guilty of unlawfully discriminating against lesbians.
What happened to the right to refuse service?
This is not a civil rights issue; it’s a freedom of religion issue. Like it or not, homosexuality is a lifestyle, whether one is born with the innate desire to live it or chooses it him or herself. Wilcock and her partner were specifically demanding that the couple behind Elane Photography act in a way that is contrary to their belief system.
The Huguenins were not on a crusade to end homosexuality, or petitioning other businesses not to take on gay couples. They only declined to photograph a particular couple because they felt uncomfortable doing so. What business is it of the government’s to decide what articles of faith someone might practice?
Freedom of choice in the country is a fantastic thing. Gay people are no longer forced to live in the shadows of society, hiding their ‘shameful’ secret from friends and family. That doesn’t mean that they have higher status than other people, or that their rights trump anyone else’s.
A person’s rights end where someone else’s begins … except for gay people in New Mexico. Their rights apparently supersede freedom of religion and expression, not to mention the free market.
Image via Annafur/Flickr
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Comments 153
Sam - Sadly, the KKK is a protected group and the question posted by guest was a valid one.
Regardless of whether or not you feel that the photographers were in the wrong, what about the fact that the couple chose to sue? What exactly did they get from that but press? If they wanted to bring down the couples business, they could have easily done so by word of mouth and using any number of social networking sites. We are such a sue happy country and it is really sad.
That's what's great about America,small business'.They choose to work for themselves for a reason.Gay's are notoriosly litigious.They are so brazen.They do all to manipulate society,try to coerce Christians into going against their convictions,and when all else fails...they settle out of court for money.They are miserable and trying to medicate by having a wedding.Give me a break.It's sinful and unnatural.Heaven doesn't recognize gay marriage,neither does 31 states that have voted on the matter.As a matter of fact,everywhere iit's been put to vote people have said no.The only states where it's been put into place were by gay legislators and immoral activist judges
Libby261: If kids are not allowed in a restaurant, are their civil rights violated? If a young adult is refused an apartment in senior citizen housing, are their civil rights violated? Gay people are not a race. They are like the rest of us, just a different sexual orientation. Hippies were refused service in the 60s and 70s due solely by how they dressed and behaved. They chose to do so and lived with the consequences. Granted, being homosexual is not usually a choice, and it's unfortunate that many people do not accept them, but at the same time, historically they have not been accepted by the mainstream. Wether you like that or not, it is just simply how it is. Today If an store did not allow Asians to shop there, if a restaurant barred blacks, if a drinking establishment forbade women to enter, would any of them still be in business? Doubtful. Businesses that discriminate against gays will not only loose them as potential customers and consequently go without their dollars, those straight people who find it abhorrent will not patronize those businesses either. The market will eventually correct that. The laws and cultural values will eventually catch up, although it will take longer than most of us would like. The gay movement, as it used to be called, is on a trajectory that indicates it will. All good things take time.
Ah, a homophobe who thinks the evil gay lifestyle is stomping on her freedom of religion to believe that gay people made a choice and therefore she can discriminate against them.
All the gay folk I know have the same lifestyle I do.
If a religion preached that children are sexually desirable and can be molestated, but then they didn't actually molest children, they just said they have the "right to believe it is OK to molest children due to their religious beliefs," would you support them? Again - in this analogy, the religious group is argueing they have the right to "believe/preach to a congregation" (not necessarily act upon) that is it ok to molest children. If you said no, it is not OK for a religious body to publically believe/preach about that, are you "discriminating against their religious freedom"? Technically, people can claim ANYTHING falls under "religious belief." But we as a society need to distinguish when those beliefs cause harm or can lead to causing harm to others. When religions preach that "homosexuality is wrong" and other people support that under the umbrella of "religious freedom" they must also logically support a religion preaching "molesting children is morally OK" because afterall, it's "religious freedom," isn't it? I am so sick of people justifying their bigotry, discrimination, and hatred towards others under the guise of "relgious freedom." Well guess what, in my personal religion, the lifestyle choice of any hypocritical homophobic Christian to discriminate against gay people is dead wrong and I will shame YOUR lifestyle choices.