A Lexington-based printing company has been found guilty of violating the city's fairness ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in its refusal to print the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization's Pride t-shirts back in 2012.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports:
[Hearing officer Greg Munson] wrote that the application of the Fairness Ordinance did not violate the T-shirt vendor's right to free speech and the free exercise of religion. […]
In the statement, Hands On Originals' co-counsel Bryan Beauman, with the Lexington firm of Sturgill, Turner, Barker and Moloney, said, "No one wants to live in that kind of America — a place where people who identify as homosexual are forced to promote the Westboro Baptists and where printers with sincere religious convictions are forced to promote the message of the GLSO. … In America, we don't force people to express messages that are contrary to their convictions."
The ruling also stipulates that within the next year, Hands On employees must undergo diversity training to ensure future discrimination does not occur.
Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian litigation group that defended Hands On Originals, released a video last month speaking out about the case. You can watch the video AFTER THE JUMP…
