{"id":1668797,"date":"2022-10-02T09:25:59","date_gmt":"2022-10-02T13:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1668797"},"modified":"2022-10-02T09:28:27","modified_gmt":"2022-10-02T13:28:27","slug":"andrea-peyser-persecuting-christians-who-refuse-to-do-work-for-same-sex-weddings-is-nothing-less-than-bigotry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/andrea-peyser-persecuting-christians-who-refuse-to-do-work-for-same-sex-weddings-is-nothing-less-than-bigotry\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrea Peyser: Persecuting Christians Who Refuse to Do Work for Same-Sex Weddings Is Nothing Less Than Bigotry"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fandrea-peyser-persecuting-christians-who-refuse-to-do-work-for-same-sex-weddings-is-nothing-less-than-bigotry%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1668797&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"76\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/andrea-peyser-v21.png?w=76&amp;h=69&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-nyp_columnist size-nyp_columnist\" alt=\"Andrea Peyser\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/andrea-peyser-v21.png 76w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/andrea-peyser-v21.png?w=38 38w\" \/>\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Emilee Carpenter is a gifted photographer whose lavish images celebrate all kinds of people \u2014 Christian, Jewish, black, white, straight, gay and everything in between. She aims her lens at clients without fear or prejudice \u2014 with one notable exception.<\/p>\n<p>She refuses to take pictures of same-sex weddings. That\u2019s non-negotiable. And it could cost her \u2014 big time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI serve everyone, including those who identify as LGBT. But I now face threats of up to $100,000 in fines, a revoked business license and even jail time simply because of my Christian beliefs about marriage,\u2019\u2019 Carpenter, who lives and works near upstate Elmira, said this week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government shouldn\u2019t banish people from the marketplace because of their faith,\u2019\u2019 she continued. \u201cFree speech is for everyone, not just those who happen to agree with the government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The state of New York would differ.<\/p>\n<p>Carpenter is in the vortex in which a professional\u2019s deeply held religious belief that<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/09\/21\/lgbtq-group-at-yeshiva-university-offers-compromise-to-resume-clubs\/\"> holy matrimony is the union of one man and one woman<\/a> is being attacked as a hate crime.<\/p>\n<p>Carpenter has declined requests by same-sex couples to document their weddings. So she researched potential penalties \u2014 hefty fines, revocation of her business license, even up to a year behind bars \u2014 and freaked out. In April 2021, she sued New York, claiming its human-rights law forcing her to shoot same-sex marriages ran afoul of her First Amendment rights to free speech, free association and free religious expression, and violated the establishment clause and her right to due process.<\/p>\n<p>In December, a district court judge dismissed the case. This delighted state Attorney General Letitia James, who is named in the suit \u2014 Emilee Carpenter Photography v. James. The AG called it \u201ca huge victory in our pursuit to ensure that every New Yorker has equal access and equal protections under the law.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLove is love,\u2019\u2019 James\u2019 statement also said, \u201cwhich is why my office will always fight to ensure that all New Yorkers are treated equally under the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Except, apparently, Christians. Their beliefs are anathema to the woke social order.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/09\/peyser-815-1.jpg\"><\/a><figcaption>Cynthia and Robert Gifford were fined $13,000 by the state for not hosting a same-sex wedding ceremony on religious grounds in Schaghticoke  New York <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On Wednesday, the case got another look, as oral arguments were held in the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in Manhattan. The three-judge panel grilled a lawyer for the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom group, which represents Carpenter, as well as a rep for the state Human Rights Commission and the upstate Chemung County Attorney.<\/p>\n<p>Bryan Neihart of ADF argued that the Constitutional right to free expression must shield an artist such as Carpenter from being <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/09\/08\/fla-school-board-blocks-lgbtq-month-after-heatedmeeting\/\">compelled to go against her values<\/a>. The same would go for a tattoo artist whose work only celebrates Islam. Or for such creators as florists and calligraphers, Neihart said. The judges will rule at a later date.<\/p>\n<p>The case recalls the ordeal of Cynthia and Robert Gifford, Christians who declined to hold a wedding ceremony for two lesbians at their upstate New York Liberty Ridge Farm back in 2012. (A reception would have been OK). As I reported, they were fined $13,000 by an administrative law judge \u2014 $1,500 to compensate each member of the couple for \u201cmental anguish\u2019\u2019 and $10,000 to be poured into the black hole of state government. The couple\u2019s appeal failed, and they gave up and took the financial hit that greatly harmed their family business.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/09\/peyser-812-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/peyser-812-1.jpg\" alt=\"Phillips won his case.\" class=\"wp-image-24083757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/peyser-812-1-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/peyser-812-1-2.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/peyser-812-1-2.jpg&amp;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Baker Jack Phillips was under fire for refusing to make a same-sex wedding cake.  <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado, whose Christian owner, Jack Phillips, refused to create a custom wedding cake for a couple of gay men \u2014 but has said he\u2019d gladly make anyone a birthday cake or shower cake, cookies or brownies \u2014 has been caught in a Kafkaesque nightmare.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, the US Supreme Court ruled by a 7-2 vote that Phillips did not violate the state\u2019s anti-discrimination law. But the harassment of the religious baker continues to this day.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado\u2019s Civil Rights Commission filed another complaint against Phillips\u2019 bakery, on behalf of transgender activist Autumn Scardina after the cake-maker declined to create a birthday cake that\u2019s blue on the outside and pink on the inside to symbolize Scardina\u2019s transition from male to female. Phillips countersued, claiming, justifiably, that he was being singled out for his religious beliefs. In early 2019, both parties dropped their cases.<\/p>\n<p>But the activist continued the anti-religious crusade, filing separate litigation against Phillips\u2019 bakeshop in District Court. Last year, a judge ruled in favor of the trans woman. That case is on appeal.<\/p>\n<p>Readers know I support same-sex unions, as do a majority of Americans. <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/09\/21\/southern-baptist-church-cuts-ties-with-two-congregations-over-lgbtq-policies\/\">But the persecution of people of faith<\/a> should frighten us all, regardless of sexual orientation.<\/p>\n<p>This is just another form of bigotry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Emilee Carpenter is a gifted photographer whose lavish images celebrate all kinds of people \u2014 Christian, Jewish, black, white, straight, gay and everything<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1668799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1668797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1668797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1668799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1668797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1668797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1668797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}