Lorie Smith
Can the government force a Democratic speechwriter to write speeches promoting the Republican Party? Or an LGBT designer to create a website criticizing same-sex marriage? Or a pro-abortion videographer to film a pro-life rally?
The answer should be obvious: Of course not. No one should be forced to say something they don’t believe.
But that was exactly the problem faced by graphic artist Lorie Smith, owner of 303 Creative near Denver, Colorado. Her state passed a law that required her to create messages that violate her core beliefs—beliefs inspired by her faith and which animate her creativity.
That’s why Lorie and Alliance Defending Freedom took her case to the U.S. Supreme Court—and won, upholding the freedom of speech for all Americans.
Get to know Lorie Smith of 303 Creative
Lorie has always wanted to create art.
“I just loved it,” she says. “Early—like, 5, 6, 7—I remember crafting and doing paint-by-numbers and making things for people. My poor parents. I probably created so much stuff that they were like, ‘Where do we put this?’”
Paints, pottery, metals—all intrigued her. But entering middle school, she found the Mac computers in the library, complete with a program that let her play with an endless variety of fonts, colors, and designs. “It was the first time I realized that I could create on a computer,” Lorie says. “I wanted to spend every moment in that Mac lab.”
She fine-tuned her artistic skills by making flyers, designing art displays, and writing ad copy for her mom’s boutique. Later, in college, she discovered web design. Realizing that her then-employer needed a website, she offered to design it. To her delight, the public relations team put her to work on that and other marketing projects.
That employer was the state of Colorado—the same state government that, years later, would be bent on controlling the young woman whose creative talents they once so valued and respected.
Lorie Smith is a Christian
Growing up, Lorie’s family were “C & E” churchgoers, she says, attending on Christmas and Easter. Lorie was fine with that at the time, but as years passed, she couldn’t shake the feeling that “something important was missing” in her life.
What she knew of faith came mainly from extended family members, including her dad’s mother—“just an incredible woman of God”—and her uncle, a hard-working family man who shared his mother’s deep beliefs. His sudden death in an accident burned bitterness deep into Lorie’s soul.
“I was really angry,” she remembers. “He was such a good guy. How could God take away someone so good and important to me?” She nursed the grudge, but when her husband expressed a desire to become more involved in church, she agreed—if only to challenge God to a duel.
“I was going to disprove that He exists, and that He is good,” she says. “So, I just sat there in services and basically loaded up on ammunition to argue about later.” The strategy backfired.
“Every Sunday, it was like the Lord was slowly hacking and chipping that callous rock off my heart.” One day, she realized that “God had already been working in my life. I could see it, and things just … changed.
“When that happened, I decided that I was going to jump all in. I was going to live my life in a way that honors God. And it’s just impacted everything that I do. I see the world through a different lens now, and it’s incredible.
Lorie started her own business to pursue her passion
Lorie Smith spent years in the corporate marketing and design industry, focusing on marketing, advertising, graphic design, and branding.
But as the years went by, Lorie felt more and more “boxed in” by corporate work. She felt like something was missing.
She began dreaming of opening her own studio so she could be free to promote messages she was passionate about—for small businesses, churches, and nonprofits, among others. That’s why she started 303 Creative, named for the “303” metro area code of Denver. Lorie’s a Colorado native.
Lorie designs websites and graphics for everyone. She pours her heart, imagination, and talents into her creations. “I love being able to choose projects that I think are a good fit for me,” Lorie says.
She delights in doing a little bit of everything — marketing, advertising, graphic design, branding, website design, strategy, social media consultation — and thrives on interacting with her customers. She spends one-on-one time with her clients, getting to know them so that she can create the absolute best web designs for them. That’s a perk of working with Lorie that a large firm can’t offer in the same way.
“When my clients come to 303 Creative, what they can expect is someone who cares and has a passion for their business as well,” Lorie says. “Each and every one of my [designs] is a reflection of me.”
Lorie wanted to design websites for weddings
Eventually, Lorie wanted to expand her business to include wedding clients.
Lorie’s lifelong enthusiasm for all things wedding was magnified by the design work she did for her own ceremony, and by her faith in Christ, which the Bible relates to a marriage relationship. The prospect of blending her faith beliefs with celebrating love stories is especially appealing.
“It’s the relational side of me,” she says. “You get to know the couple and their story.” Designing wedding websites would allow her to tell those stories in a creative way, “and I like doing that through God’s lens.”
As a Christian, Lorie believes that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. And she wanted to start designing wedding websites to convey the beauty of marriage, consistent with her faith’s teachings.
But she would soon learn that the state of Colorado didn’t see things the same way.
What Lorie Smith shares with Colorado cake artist Jack Phillips
Like most Coloradans, Lorie was familiar with cake artist Jack Phillips’s conflicts with Colorado state officials who’d ordered him to forgo creating wedding cakes unless he was also willing to create them to celebrate same-sex unions.
Jack, like Lorie, is a Christian whose faith teaches that God designed marriage as the union of one man and one woman. And like Lorie, Jack couldn’t imagine expressing a message with his art that would contradict his faith.
As a result, Jack declined to create a custom cake celebrating a same-sex wedding. That led to legal action and a case that was eventually decided in Jack’s favor at the Supreme Court in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Still, even with that victory, Jack has continued to face lawsuits and harassment for more than a decade.
One day, Lorie’s pastor, referencing Jack’s case, asked Lorie what she would do if she were asked to create a website celebrating a same-sex wedding. The question gave her pause. She works with clients who identify as LGBT, but she also holds biblical beliefs about marriage. She knew she would not be able to create a website expressing a message in conflict with her faith.
Seeing the strong possibility of a coming collision, her pastor suggested that Lorie contact the legal group representing Jack: Alliance Defending Freedom.
That led to a sobering conversation. ADF attorneys confirmed her fear that Colorado officials were, in fact, censoring her speech and could force her to create and promote messages that violated the very core of who she is. The fact that she cheerfully worked with clients from all walks of life—including those who identify as LGBT—would make no difference. Neither would the fact that her decision to create is always based on the message being celebrated, not the people involved.
That left her with three legal alternatives: 1) complying with the law (and violating her conscience), 2) staying out of the wedding field (and keeping her beliefs to herself), or 3) challenging the unjust law infringing on her freedom of speech.
In the end, Lorie decided to challenge Colorado’s unjust law. The determination of state officials to censor her would prevent her from pursuing her passion for creating graphics and websites that honor God’s truth about marriage. She would be forced to choose between giving up her dream or compromising her faith—and she wasn’t willing to do either.
Lorie challenges the state of Colorado
In September 2016, ADF filed a complaint in federal court against Colorado officials on Lorie’s behalf in what is known as a pre-enforcement challenge.
Pre-enforcement challenges are lawsuits brought by those who fear that the government will use a law to violate their constitutional rights. Even if the law has not yet been enforced against the individual, courts have a long tradition of allowing pre-enforcement challenges when a law could violate a citizen’s rights in the present or pose a substantial or impending risk of injury in the future.
Initially, courts ruled against Lorie, even after Jack’s victory at the Supreme Court in the Masterpiece case in June 2018.
In September 2019, a federal district court ruled against Lorie. Two years after that, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit also ruled in Colorado’s favor in a decision so strange and extreme that it bolstered ADF attorneys’ confidence for a successful appeal to the Supreme Court.
Notably, both the 10th Circuit and Colorado officials acknowledged that Lorie exercises no bias in how she treats her clients—including those who identify as LGBT. Both also conceded that her graphic art and websites constitute speech and expression and are protected by the First Amendment.
Yet the 10th Circuit inexplicably ruled 2-1 that Colorado has every right to compel Lorie’s speech, effectively eliminating views like Lorie’s, silencing her expression, and forcing Lorie and others like her to publish views they do not agree with. The government, under the 10th Circuit’s reasoning, could override anyone’s First Amendment right to free speech, allowing no one to disagree.
“It seems we have moved from ‘live and let live’ to ‘you can’t say that,’” wrote Chief Judge Timothy Tymkovich of the 10th Circuit in a blistering dissent.
In September 2021, ADF attorneys filed an appeal of that decision with the Supreme Court, and in December 2022, ADF CEO, President, and General Counsel Kristen Waggoner represented Lorie during oral arguments at the Supreme Court.
Victory at the Supreme Court
On June 30, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in Lorie Smith’s favor, protecting the right to free speech for all Americans. 303 Creative v. Elenis marked ADF’s 15th Supreme Court win since 2011.
In his majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, “[A]s this Court has long held, the opportunity to think for ourselves and to express those thoughts freely is among our most cherished liberties and part of what keeps our Republic strong.”
He added, “[T]he freedom to think and speak is among our inalienable human rights. … By allowing all views to flourish, the framers understood, we may test and improve our own thinking both as individuals and as a Nation.”
Kristen Waggoner explained, “The U.S. Supreme Court rightly reaffirmed that the government can’t force Americans to say things they don’t believe. The court reiterated that it’s unconstitutional for the state to eliminate from the public square ideas it dislikes, including the belief that marriage is the union of husband and wife … Disagreement isn’t discrimination, and the government can’t mislabel speech as discrimination to censor it.”
Lorie also commented, “I’m incredibly grateful for the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling, which says I am free to create art consistent with my beliefs without fear of Colorado punishing me. This is a victory not just for me but for all Americans across our great country—for those who share my beliefs and for those who hold different beliefs. Whether you’re an LGBT graphic designer, a Jewish calligrapher, an atheist speechwriter, or a pro-life photographer, the government shouldn’t force any of us to say something we don’t believe.”
Moving Forward
At long last, Lorie’s legal journey came to an end, leaving a legacy of free speech for the next generation.
On the day of the Court’s decision, Kristen Waggoner said, “We’re so thankful to Lorie for her courageous stand, and we’re hopeful and expect that this victory will help millions of Americans across the United States and even around the world.”
Already, we are seeing the effects of the 303 Creative decision in subsequent victories defending other ADF clients like photographer Bob Updegrove and teacher Peter Vlaming.
After the Court’s decision, Lorie reflected, “This has been a really challenging seven-year journey, and I’m so grateful for everyone’s prayers, encouragement, and support along the way.”
While Lorie is incredibly thankful for the great victory at the Supreme Court, the personal cost she endured throughout this process was also great. From the day her case was filed, Lorie was deluged with hate mail, cruel telephone calls, death threats, constant hacking attempts, false Facebook accounts designed to look like her business’s page, and fervent wishes for her to contract cancer. She’s lost clients and friends, and several colleagues denounced her and drifted away.
But she never lost hope in God and how He could accomplish mighty things through her and through her lawsuit.
“I know that if we want freedom for ourselves, we must defend it for others. This belief and my faith has inspired me to persevere over the last several years,” said Lorie.
This raises a question, though: What about you?
“The Lord is looking for His people to take a stand and speak up for what’s right in their own lives,” Lorie says. “To stand in truth and to do it boldly. He blesses that.”
“I’m not saying that He’s calling everybody to take a stand the way I have, but He’s called each of us to do something for His kingdom. I would just challenge everyone to think about what that is, and to do it—all in—not ashamed or fearful of what the world will do in response.”
Are you ready to take a stand?
One way you can do that today is to support the work of ADF financially (below) or through prayer.
We rely on the generosity of people like you to help fund our legal work. And that’s why we don’t have to charge clients like Lorie a dime to defend them in court.
God has shown us time and time again that when we stand together to defend religious freedom and free speech, we can win. But this isn’t “someone else’s battle” to win. It’s yours. It’s ours.
Are you in?