Chelsey Nelson Photography, LLC v. Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government (U.S.C.A., 6th Circuit, 2023)

At issue in this case is a wedding photographer who seeks a religious exemption to Louisville's  anti-discrimination ordinance for the purpose of denying wedding-related services to same-sex couples. ADL joined 14 other faith-based organizations in a brief led by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The brief argues that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment does not require granting the photographer a religious exemption to this neutral, generally applicable anti-discrimination ordinance. Furthermore, it argues that exempting businesses from anti-discrimination laws to enable them to deny service to LGBTQ+ people based on the businesses' religious views actually "would undermine, not advance, religious freedom." The brief illustrates how anti-discrimination laws protect religious freedom and ​that granting a religious exemption here would undermine religious freedom. It argues that rewriting free-exercise law to require an exemption here would create a sharp, slippery slope toward limitless forms of discrimination – including discrimination based on religion.