Joint Release: Colorado General Assembly LGBTQ+ Caucus Statement on SCOTUS Ruling in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis
DENVER, CO – Members of the Colorado General Assembly LGBTQ+ Caucus today released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, in which the Court ruled to allow businesses to refuse service to a customer based on the customer’s sexual orientation.
LGBTQ+ Caucus Co-Chair Representative Brianna Titone:
“The decision by the Supreme Court undermines Colorado’s anti-discrimination protections, directly attacks the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans and allows businesses to deny services based on ‘First Amendment’ grounds to anyone due to their gender, race, religion, or who they love.
The US Supreme Court has legalized discrimination and bigotry against LGBTQ people and has endangered equal protections under the law. With one decision, the Court reversed decades of progress to secure the freedoms and rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, and has threatened the rights of Americans to equally and fairly access public accommodations."
LGBTQ+ Caucus Co-Chair Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis:
"The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to again take away individual rights, this time from the LGBTQ+ community, can not be respected nor can it stand. The conservative majority on the Court have now joined the voices of hate and is one more example of anti-LGBTQ+ actions that we are seeing across the United States. We in Colorado will continue to stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ community and reaffirm our commitment to the protection of all human rights.
Across the country, over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced that put the community in danger of harm, preventing us from freely expressing ourselves or being able to make personal health care decisions. We’ve made great progress in recent years to fight against the increasing anti-LGBTQ+ attacks. We secured the right to access gender affirming care and abortion care, added anti-discrimination protection language to include gender identity and gender expression, and strengthened anti-discrimination protections for people in the workplace. While our new laws ensure Colorado is a safer place for members of the LGBTQ+ community to call home, we still have hills to climb to combat the rising anti-LGBTQ+ vitriol.
Colorado Democrats will continue to fight for your freedoms and stand up against discrimination, bigotry, and violence against the LGBTQ+ community.”
LGBTQ+ Caucus Co-Chairs:
Rep. Brianna Titone
Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis
LGBTQ+ Caucus Members:
Rep. Ruby Dickson
Rep. Lorena Garcia
Sen. Joann Ginal
Rep. Leslie Herod
Sen. Majority Leader Dominick Moreno
Rep. David Ortiz
Rep. Alex Valdez
Rep. Steph Vigil
Today’s ruling sided with 303 Creative, a Colorado-based company that sued the state for the right to refuse service to the LGBTQ+ community. In 2022, Colorado Democrats updated Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), expanding anti-discrimination protections and guaranteeing equal access to public accommodations, housing, and employment regardless of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, religion, national origin, or ancestry.
In recent years, Colorado Democrats have passed numerous laws to increase protections against discrimination. In 2021, lawmakers approved a law that added “gender expression” and “gender identity” as a protected class under Colorado statute, and in 2022 Democrats amended CADA to improve age discrimination protections in employment cases and extend time limits for complaints and charges.
This year, Democrats fought to protect people and health care providers from being persecuted for providing reproductive health and gender-affirming care, prohibit employers from requiring age-related information on job applications, improve safeguards against harassment and discrimination in the workplace, and protect people with a disability from being excluded from or denied the benefits of services, programs, or activities provided by a place of public accommodation.