Christian Photographer Wins Lawsuit Over Right to Refuse Same-Sex Weddings

A federal court has ruled that the city government of Louisville, Kentucky, violated a wedding photographer’s rights by trying to make her provide services for same-sex weddings.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky found the city liable for infringing Christian wedding photographer Chelsey Nelson’s constitutional rights and ordered it to pay nominal damages.

Judge Benjamin Beaton found that Louisville’s Fairness Ordinance included “two provisions” that limited Nelson’s ability to express her beliefs as a Christian wedding photographer. Nelson, who sought $1 in damages, was awarded that amount by the court.

Nelson became aware of Louisville’s Fairness Ordinance in 2019 and concluded that two sections of the law limited how she could operate her wedding photography business. The ordinance, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations, imposed potential civil penalties and financial damages on business owners who refused to provide services for same-sex weddings.

One provision of the ordinance prohibited “the denial of goods and services to members of protected classes,” which includes same-sex couples. Louisville’s Fairness Ordinance also barred her “from writing and publishing any indication or explanation that she wouldn’t photograph same-sex weddings, or that otherwise causes someone to feel unwelcome or undesirable based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity,” according to the lawsuit.

Nelson said complying would have contradicted her Christian convictions in her wedding photography business. The law also prevented her from posting statements about her Biblical views on marriage on her photography studio’s website.

“When you’re a new business owner getting started and you’re worried that you might have a $10,000 fine come upon you just out of nowhere at any moment, just for trying to quietly operate your business in a way that’s consistent with your convictions, that obviously stifles creative energy,” Nelson tells Christian outlet World News Group (WNG). “It made me fearful to grow my business, because the more well-known you are, the more people see what you stand for.”

Nelson said that fear of potential penalties made her hesitant to promote her business or seek new clients as a wedding photographer, as she worried increased visibility could draw the city’s attention.

“I don’t want to be quiet about my faith. I want to celebrate it,” Nelson tells WNG. “It influences how I approach, how I care for my clients, the type of message and story I’m telling on a wedding day to celebrate marriage between a man and a woman.”

Nelson filed a lawsuit against the city in 2019, arguing that the ordinance violated her constitutional rights. In 2022, the District Court ruled in her favor but did not award damages. The city appealed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Nelson also appealed, seeking damages. On October 1, the District Court reaffirmed its earlier decision upholding free speech protections, maintained the injunction preventing enforcement against her, and awarded her nominal damages for the period in which the city’s actions restricted her expression.

The news comes months after a federal court approved a $225,000 settlement in a case involving Christian photographer Emilee Carpenter from New York, who challenged state laws she said required her to express messages that conflicted with her religious beliefs.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.