In June, the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear in its ruling on 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis that the state of Colorado cannot enforce its public-accommodation laws with Lorie Smith, the web designer who does business as 303 Creative, as the regulations violated her free-speech protections. Advocates, legal scholars and government officials have plenty of questions about what a case from Colorado could mean for businesses in Washington for LGBTQ rights.
In 2022, the American Library Association (ALA) recorded the most attempted book bans ever during its history of tracking censorship. Many of these books have LGBTQ, racial inequality and gender or sexual identity content.
The expansion of the concept of speech to include everything from donating money to wearing a shirt to burning a flag is weakening enforcement of the First Amendment. If everything is speech, nothing is speech.
As faith leaders and members in the community, we stand together in support of transgender rights. We are open and affirming people of faith who value all human beings and their identities.