Photographer and self-professed Christian Emilee Carpenter is suing the state of New York for not letting her discriminate against LGBTQ+ clients, claiming it is discriminating against her religion.
Carpenter believes marriage should only be between a cisgender man and a cisgender woman. By having an anti-discrimination law protecting LGBTQ+ people from being turned away from public businesses based solely on their identity, she feels she is the victim of persecution.
Even though no same-sex couples have ever asked her to photograph their weddings, she is still suing the state of New York for what she admitted was a non-issue.
Carpenter's federal lawsuit states:
"Emilee believes that God creates, calls, and equips some people to magnify God's goodness by creating aesthetically pleasing art that reflects God's beauty, artistry, and truth."
Based on this statement, Carpenter seems like an open and accepting individual.
However, that is not so.
Carpenter backs up her case by citing the statement she makes on her website, comparing LGBTQ+ weddings to 'Halloween or Vampire-themed' weddings.
"Emilee would not provide wedding photography for certain types of irreverent themed weddings—such as Halloween or Vampire-themed weddings—because Emilee believes that all wedding ceremonies are inherently religious and solemn events,"
Carpenter received help from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an organization deemed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group.
In the past, ADF claimed there was a link between homosexuality and pedophilia.
This sounds eerily similar to a case ADF represented in Louisville, Kentucky back in 2019 that won, granting the photographer the right to refuse to serve LGBTQ+ couples. In this other case, no same-sex couples had ever asked the photographer for her services, just like Carpenter.
This Twitter user responded to ADF's tweet:
Some people joked about the comparison between 'Halloween themed' weddings and LGBTQ+ weddings.
Some just had a lot of thoughts about Emilee Carpenter herself.
Carpenter's lawsuit states she treats everyone with "love, honesty, fairness, and excellence," but apparently that does not apply to LGBTQ+ couples getting married.
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