Every American Helped Build Your Business. You Can't Exclude the Gay Ones.

You can't claim "individualism" in a collective society.

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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

After decades of defeat at the hands of the dreaded Civil Rights Act, the Conservative legal movement is on the cusp of victory in its quest to restore the 18th-century social order.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in 303 Creative v Elenis, a case centering on the question: “Can a website designer refuse to make a website for a same-sex wedding?” Lorie Smith, the owner of 303 Creative, is claiming the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) violates her religious rights by forcing her to do business with same-sex couples.

Laughing out loud at the copy-paste job on 303’s homepage.

While the Conservative Court is likely to side with the Smith, this issue strikes at a deeper question concerning how businesses such as 303 Creative came to be, and who is responsible for their existence.

Lorie Smith’s argument, which was fed to her by the rightwing judicial group Alliance Defending Freedom, centers on the belief that private businesses are extensions of their owners. Under this premise, 303 Creative LLC has the same religious beliefs as Mrs. Smith and therefore has the right to practice those beliefs by refusing to “participate” in a gay wedding. 

This theory is not unique to Mrs. Smith. In fact, it is the core tenet of Conservatism, guiding their beliefs on taxation (low), corporate political donations (unlimited), and anti-discrimination laws (bad).

But it’s total horseshit. Here’s why.

Nothing Personal. It’s Just Business.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” — John Donne