{"id":500094,"date":"2021-05-12T12:06:11","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T16:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=500094"},"modified":"2021-05-12T12:06:15","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T16:06:15","slug":"ny-photographer-challenges-state-sexual-orientation-and-gender-law-that-stifles-her-artistic-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ny-photographer-challenges-state-sexual-orientation-and-gender-law-that-stifles-her-artistic-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"NY Photographer Challenges State Sexual Orientation And Gender Law That Stifles Her Artistic Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/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%2Fny-photographer-challenges-state-sexual-orientation-and-gender-law-that-stifles-her-artistic-freedom%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=500094&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--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1227753247.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>Emilee Carpenter is a young entrepreneur in Pine City, New York, who runs her own photography company that specializes in wedding photography. She works closely with couples from the \u201cYes!\u201d of engagement to the \u201cI do\u201d of marriage to create photographs and write blog posts celebrating the couple\u2019s marriage. In short, Emilee is in the celebration business.<\/p>\n<p>But as a Christian, Emilee looks to her religious beliefs for guidance on what she can celebrate and what being authentic looks like, in her life and in her business.<\/p>\n<p>For Emilee, this means she can\u2019t genuinely promote certain ideas and stay true to her faith. For example, Emilee can\u2019t create photographs demeaning people or supporting racism. And as a Christian who believes marriage is the sacred union of one man and one woman, Emilee cannot promote any view of marriage that contradicts her beliefs, such as same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n<p>People may or may not personally agree with all of Emilee\u2019s views. But it is important for everyone to understand that Emilee always evaluates only the\u00a0<i>what<\/i>\u00a0and not the\u00a0<i>who<\/i>. Put differently, Emilee serves everyone, including those in the LGBT community. She just cannot support some messages with her art for anyone.<\/p>\n<p>Artists commonly exercise this same discretion. Afterall, Jay-Z isn\u2019t known for country songs, Stan Lee didn\u2019t paint impressionist water lilies, and Spike Lee doesn\u2019t produce Victorian films. And other photographers in New York create artwork according to their artistic vision and moral compass all the time.<\/p>\n<p>But while New York promotes some artists, it punishes those like Emilee. New York\u2019s laws force Emilee to create photographs and blog posts celebrating same-sex weddings and publish them on her own website because she does the same for weddings between a man and a woman. New York officials incorrectly label Emilee\u2019s artistic choices as \u201cdiscrimination\u201d to try to paper over the fact that they just disagree with Emilee\u2019s views.<\/p>\n<p>That mislabeling comes at a high price for Emilee. If she follows her convictions, New York threatens to fine her $100,000, put her in jail for up to a year, and exact other penalties that could ruin her business and force her to defy her faith.<\/p>\n<p>All of this violates Emilee\u2019s constitutional rights. As courts across the country have found, artists have the right to choose which messages they promote.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the freedom that protects Emilee doesn\u2019t stop with her. It\u2019s what allows Lin-Manuel Miranda to make casting decisions for\u00a0<i>Hamilton<\/i> or lesbian bakers to decline creating cakes with designs criticizing same-sex marriage. That\u2019s the thing about free speech. It\u2019s a two-way street \u2014 except, apparently, in New York.<\/p>\n<p>Emilee has decided to stand up for herself and the rights of others. She filed a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/adflegal.org\/case\/emilee-carpenter-photography-v-james\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/adflegal.org\/case\/emilee-carpenter-photography-v-james&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1620918506801000&#038;usg=AFQjCNHJfteqN44jtTA3OgmFykYJujy-qw\">federal lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0through her Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys to challenge the unjust threat created by New York\u2019s laws and asked the court to vindicate her First Amendment rights. Doing so will allow Emilee to operate her business while remaining true to herself. And in today\u2019s world, that\u2019s something we can all understand.<\/p>\n<p><i>Bryan Neihart, legal counsel for the Center for Conscience Initiatives at\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.adflegal.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.adflegal.org&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1620918506801000&#038;usg=AFQjCNHb_v5VQceTZHD49TgS_cQAOHvsvA\"><i>Alliance Defending Freedom<\/i><\/a><i>\u00a0(<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AllianceDefends\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/AllianceDefends&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1620918506801000&#038;usg=AFQjCNFXRxq6iYfVoyWsOXJYhJZs43Y0_Q\"><i>@Alliance Defends<\/i><\/a><i>), represents Emilee Carpenter Photography in\u00a0<\/i>Emilee Carpenter Photography v. James<i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>member<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Emilee Carpenter is a young entrepreneur in Pine City, New York, who runs her own photography company that specializes in wedding photography. She works closely with couples from the \u201cYes!\u201d &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2277914,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1227753247.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"NY Photographer Challenges State Sexual Orientation And Gender Law That Stifles Her Artistic Freedom","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-500094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1227753247.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"NY Photographer Challenges State Sexual Orientation And Gender Law That Stifles Her Artistic Freedom","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500094","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=500094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}