Christian print shop owner who refused to make 'gay pride' shirts returns to court

The Kentucky Court of Appeals started to hear the case of a Christian print shop owner who refused to make t-shirts for a gay pride festival because it would violate his religious convictions.

Blaine Adamson, owner of Hands on Originals, was sued in 2012 when he declined to print shirts for the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization (GLSO) in that will be used during a gay pride festival, The Daily Signal reported.

A ruling by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission ordered Adamson to produce the shirts even if the message conflicted with his religious beliefs.

Adamson won his case in April 2015 when the Fayette County Circuit Court ruled that he had the right not to print the shirts. The victory was short-lived when the commission and the GLSO appealed the decision of the lower court. Adamson is represented by the Christian legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

During the oral arguments held in Dec. 13, ADF senior counsel Jim Campbell told the three-judge panel that Adamson does not discriminate based on sexual orientation.

"Hands On Originals declined to print the shirts in question because of the messages on them, not the sexual orientation of the individuals who asked for them," he said.

Ed Dove, a lawyer for the commission, argued that the message is inseparable from discrimination against a protected class of people.

"At what point does this message stop? You can't separate the message from the discrimination. That's a red herring," he said, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Campbell pointed out that Adamson had previously served gay and lesbian clients.

"Hands On Originals, our client, regularly prints shirts for gays and lesbians. In fact, Hands On Originals has printed promotional items for a lesbian singer that performed at the very pride festival in question in this case, so Hands On Originals has no objection serving gays and lesbians," Campbell told The Daily Signal.

The ADF is expecting a court decision within 90 days. Campbell said that the organization will have to evaluate whether to file an appeal to the Kentucky Supreme Court if the appeals court rules in Adamson's favor and the commission decides to pursue the case or if the court for the commission.