This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Colorado taxpayers are being stung with a $1.5 million bill they will have to pay for their leaders' anti-Christian ideology.
It's the settlement that the state is required to pay after losing its war – at the U.S. Supreme Court – on the Christian faith of artist Lorie Smith.
She runs her own design studio, 303 Creative, specializing in graphic and website design.
"She left the corporate design world to start her own small business in 2012 so she could use her skills to promote causes consistent with her beliefs and close to her heart, such as supporting children with disabilities, the beauty of marriage, overseas missions, animal shelters, and veterans," the ADF explained.
"She was excited to expand her portfolio to create websites that celebrate marriage between a man and a woman, but Colorado made clear she's not welcome in that space."
In fact, Colorado leftists imposed a law that would have required her to promote same-sex duos if she also did wedding site designs.
But that would violate her faith.
The law, in fact, was intended to censor what she wants to say and requires her to create designs that violate her beliefs about marriage, the legal team explained.
"She enjoys working with people from all walks of life, but, like most artists, can't promote every message."
The payment by the state is to finish a lawsuit brought by ADF lawyers, and is to cover attorneys' fees.
The Supreme Court scolded the state for its agenda to violate the First Amendment in its attack on Smith.
After the Supreme Court ruling, a district court's final judgment requires the state and its officials to comply with the First Amendment.
The ADF explained, "Colorado officials threatened and censored Smith's speech for nearly seven years before she was victorious at the high court. They have also relentlessly pursued other Colorado artists—like cake designer Jack Phillips—for years, filing complaints against him for expressing only messages consistent with his religious beliefs."
"The government can't force Americans to say things they don't believe, and Colorado officials have paid and will continue to pay a high price when they violate this foundational freedom," said the ADF's Kristen Waggoner.
"For the past 12 years, Colorado has targeted people of faith and forced them to express messages that violate their conscience and that advance the government's preferred ideology. First Amendment protections are non-negotiable. Billions of people around the world believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman and that men and women are biologically distinct. No government has the right to silence individuals for expressing these ideas or to punish those who decline to express different views.
"Political and cultural winds shift, but the freedom to speak without fear of censorship is a God-given constitutionally guaranteed right, essential for a flourishing society and self-governing people."
