Christian Couple Back in Court over Same Sex Marriage Videography Refusal

A Christian couple in Minnesota who say they hold traditional biblical beliefs regarding marriage are back in court with an appeal to an earlier decision from a U.S. District judge, reports local newspaper the Star Tribune.

The judge in the earlier case dismissed the suit that Carl and Angel Larsen, proprietors of videography service Telescope Media Group, brought against the state, saying that their intention to post an advisory at their website to the effect that they will not provide services to couples celebrating same-sex weddings is a latter day equivalent to "a 'White Applicants Only' sign," the article noted.

But the Larsens, who are represented by the right-wing Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, say that their First Amendment rights as artists are being violated by a state law that requires them to offer their services on an equal basis to all prospective customers.

The couple's case was heard by a federal appellate court on Sept. 16. The Star Tribune called the appeal "an important potential sequel" to a similar case in which a baker from Colorado took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court and won a narrowly defined victory.

Local CBS affiliate WCCO quoted Kevin Lindsey, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, who argued, "Conduct matters and that when you are selling goods and services you should sell goods and services to all people in the state of Minnesota."

But the couple framed their appeal in terms of "freedom of speech and expression," with Carl Larsen saying, "We use film to help our clients tell the most important stories but we are also Christians."

The case spawned headlines last year when the federal court ruled against the couple. New York Times reported in September of 2017 that the Larsens had filed suit against the state in late 2016. The Times noted that the stated mission of the Larsens' company is to "magnify Christ like a telescope," but at the same time, the article reported, the couple wish to oppose what they claim is a "powerful cultural narrative undermining the historic, biblically orthodox definition of marriage as between one man and one woman."

The CBS affiliate, WCCO, reported that a decision in the appeal could be "several months" in arriving. Meantime, the couple's lawyer expressed the thought that this case, like that of the baker in Colorado, could land before the U.S. Supreme Court, which recently saw the addition of Brett Kavanaugh, whom LGBTQ organizations could fear will tilt the court in a direction antithetical to full equality before the law for sexual minorities and their families.